


The Golden Dance

by tsutsuji



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: M/M, Work In Progress, fanon!Bakura, sort of au but sort of not
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-03-08
Updated: 2015-02-22
Packaged: 2017-11-01 15:21:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 41,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/358335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsutsuji/pseuds/tsutsuji
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Priest Seth and Thief Bakura suddenly appear in modern Domino, rivalries and romance soon follow. But a mystery in the past threatens two lives in the present, and Jonouchi must find the answers before he loses the love he just found with his rival, Seto Kaiba.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Time is a River

**Author's Note:**

> AU version of Ancient Egypt story. Takes place sometime after Battle City, before the Ancient Egypt memory Game, and ignores the Doom arc completely. 
> 
> The idea for this came from a plot bunny posted long ago on A_Dragon's_Lair email group, the one where "Priest Seth gets dragged from the past to the present and lands pretty much on top of Jonouchi." Except that I had to drag Thief Bakura along with him, and then things got all kinds of complicated.  
> Originally posted at A_Dragon's_Lair and other email groups and at ffnet and affnet 2004-2006.

 

 

_So time is a river rolling into nowhere_

_I will live while I can_

_I will have my ever after_

 

\-- Steve Winwood, "The Finer Things"

 

~~~

Chapter 1

 

Jonouchi was in no hurry as he strolled along on his way to the Kame Game Shop, taking his usual shortcut through deserted alleys behind a row of office buildings. As anxious as he was to pick up some new Duel Monster cards, it was too hot to be in a hurry for anything. A lot of people were grumbling about the sudden, unusual hot spell. He glanced up at the sky, hoping for signs of a coming storm to cool things off, but there were no clouds at all. He noticed that the neighborhood was unusually quiet, almost tense, as if it was waiting for something to happen. The air was still and the sky seemed unnaturally bright. It felt as if a storm should be coming, even though there was no sign of one. Jonouchi shrugged it off and went back to his thoughts of dragon cards and dueling strategies.

 

A minute later he was brought out of his thoughts again by a loud bang that shook the ground, like a clap of thunder very close by. The air quivered for a moment. He glanced up; the sky was just as clear as it had been a minute ago. He looked around at brick walls and blank windows. Was that an explosion? Gunshot? There was no sign of life anywhere in sight.

 

Then he heard voices. Shouts of surprise or confusion, and then a roar as if from an animal. The ground shook again, this time as if something very heavy had fallen nearby. He followed the sounds to the end of the alley.

 

"What the hell?" he wondered aloud. He came around the corner to find the last thing he expected to see: a Duel in progress.

 

Two young men faced each other across a vacant lot. Over each of them hovered a huge monster. One of them was like a giant serpent, as thick as a truck, with half of its body coiled on the ground behind one of the players not far from where Jonouchi stood. The other was more of a dragon-type beast, a slim serpent with iridescent bat-like wings. Graceful and sinuous, it swam in the air above the other player.

 

But they were both larger and more solid looking than most of the holographic monsters he'd seen, even more than the best he'd seen at Battle City, aside from the all-too-real God Monsters. The air throbbed as the dragon beat its wings, and the huge, heavy coils of the other tore up the ground, leaving bare earth where it passed.

 

"Must be new Kaiba-corp. technology... yeah, that's it, I bet this is a secret test of a new Duel Disc or something." He edged closer, checking out the contestants. There was no one else in the vacant lot, no other observers, just the two duelists and their gigantic beasts.

 

The duelists each wore something on their left arms, a big flashy golden bracelet that they seemed to use like a Duel Disc, even though it didn't look anything like the one he'd worn at Battle City. And, Jonouchi noticed for the first time, they were both dressed in some kind of costumes. The one nearest him, whose face he couldn't see, wore a hooded red robe and sandals. The other had on a white robe trimmed with blue and gold, and some kind of tall hat or headgear. Suddenly Jonouchi realized they looked like Egyptian costumes.

 

"That's weird. Kaiba's said a million times he doesn't buy the whole ancient-Egypt routine, so how come he's dressed his players like this? Wait a sec... isn't that Kaiba himself?"

 

In the few seconds that he'd been watching and thinking this, the players had been looking around wildly while their monsters hesitated above them. Neither of them had noticed him standing there near the corner of the alley. As he watched, wondering at the man who looked like Kaiba, the man in red seemed to recollect himself and returned his attention to his adversary. The guy who looked like Kaiba - although he had a better tan than he'd had last time Jonouchi saw him - glared back at him.

 

"What have you done, tombrobber? What hell have you brought us to?"

 

The red-robed player just laughed, and his laughter sounded disturbingly familiar to Jonouchi. But that wasn't what made shivers run down his spine. The white-robed player had spoken in a language Jonouchi had never heard before - but he'd understood every word.

 

"I gotta bad Shadow-Game-feeling about this all of a sudden," he muttered. He looked up warily at the sky. It was still just as bright and clear as it had been, no freaky black clouds in sight.

 

Then a shadow fell over him, but it wasn't the murky cloud of a Shadow Game. It was the head of the huge serpent-beast blocking the sun as it rose up and swayed in the air over its master. Its head was as big as a car, and its cavernous mouth opened with a roar. It was the same sound Jonouchi had heard a moment before, but it was much louder this time. A gust of putrid breath almost knocked him backwards as the thing swung its long neck around. It passed almost over Jonouchi's head, as solid and real as the wall behind him. But it paid no attention to him; its yellow eyes were locked on the other player.

 

"Yiy, that's no hologram! Look out!" Jonouchi yelped, as the serpent's head shot forward to attack. Its huge fangs gleamed like broadswords.

 

The white-robed player didn't need his warning, if he even heard it. He raised the staff he carried in a gesture of command. Jonouchi suddenly realized it looked like the Millennium Rod, but that was in Yugi's possession now after the end of the Battle City tournament, so how could Kaiba have it?

 

The dragon swooped low, sliding through the air just in front of its master with its gleaming back to the serpent. The serpent's head crashed into it and sprang back with a roar. The dragon had successfully defended its master, but one of the serpent's fangs had pierced it just behind the wing, and it screamed and crashed to the ground. It tumbled halfway across the lot to land at last in a heap of smoking scales and tangled wings, and didn't move again.

 

"That doesn't look good," Jonouchi said.

 

The white-robed Kaiba-look-alike was hunched over in pain. When he managed to raise his eyes, he looked first at his fallen beast, with anguish in his eyes. Then slowly he dragged his gaze up to look into the face of the giant serpent that swayed above him, waiting.

 

"You're finished, Priest," the other player cried. Again the voice sounded familiar, speaking words Jonouchi understood in a language he didn't know.

 

The other stood up tall, staring his opponent in the eye. He held the rod up in front of him defiantly.

 

"My curse upon you, tombrobber!" he answered. "May your soul be doomed to remain in the Shadows, never resting in life or in death!"

 

"You're far too late to curse me, oh wise Priest Seth," the other said mockingly. "As you yourself have said so often, my soul became joined to the Shadows long ago! Now the creature at my command will devour you, body and soul!"

 

Jonouchi stared. Priest? Seth? He tried to remember what Yugi had mentioned about Kaiba's supposed connection with the ancient past, but he'd never caught the details. But he was sure of one thing, Kaiba hadn't bought into it at all, so if this was him playing a role, he was doing a damn good job of it. Jonouchi stared harder at him. The fierce blue eyes looked exactly like Kaiba's, except for one thing: he'd never seen Kaiba look defeat in the face and accept it. This guy knew he was beat, and he was just waiting for the inevitable finish.

 

Then Jonouchi knew in a flash that this guy wasn't just looking at defeat. He was staring straight at his own death.

 

The red-robed player raised his hand. Jonouchi knew he was about to command his beast to attack to kill, and he knew he had to stop it.

 

"Screw Battle City rules!" he said as he dashed forward. He took a flying leap and tackled the red-robed man from behind just as he started to speak. Out of the corner of his eye, as they went down in the dirt, Jonouchi caught the shocked look on the other player's face.

 

The attacking player tried to twist out from under Jonouchi as they landed, but he was ready for that trick. He got his knee in the small of the guy's back and grabbed one arm with both hands, and yanked upward while throwing his weight down at the same time. The man gave way with a grunt of pain and frustration. Keeping a tight grip on one wrist, Jonouchi sat forward and grabbed him by the back of the head with his other hand.

 

"Call off your monster," he snarled. "Or I leave your brains here in the dust. Got it?"

 

He didn't know if the man understood his words, but he got the message anyway.

 

"Hold!" he yelled, his voice muffled against the dirt. The beast halted and withdrew a short distance, though it still eyed the other player hungrily.

 

The Priest-player, however, ignored it. He was staring at Jonouchi with a look so shocked it almost made Jonouchi laugh. Then he said something, a word that Jonouchi didn't understand, in a tone of breathless awe.

 

"Yeah. Impressive, huh?" Jonouchi said, assuming the guy was knocked speechless by his moves. "Comes of playing tackle with Honda, and I never let him the get better of me either. Now, mind telling me who you guys are and what's going on here?"

 

The white-robed player came forward slowly, gazing at Jonouchi without speaking. Getting no answer from him, Jonouchi decided to try the guy he was sitting on for answers. He pulled the hood back off his head and leaned over to get a look at his face. To his surprise, it looked like Bakura... sort of. At least, the eyes reminded him of the shifty way Bakura's eyes looked when that evil spirit in the Millennium Ring possessed him. But the face was harder and older, not really the face of his classmate at all.

 

"Bakura? Y'know, I thought that evil laugh sounded familiar. But it can't be you. So what's the deal, is this a Shadow Game or what?"

 

He turned back to the other player, who was standing close by now, staring down at him. There was such a mix of emotions on his face that Jonouchi couldn't name all of them.

 

He said the strange word again that Jonouchi couldn't understand. It sounded like a question this time.

 

"What's that you keep saying? I can understand the rest, but what's this... whatever it is you keep mentioning? I can't even say it."

 

A flash of pure joy on the man's face was quickly replaced by a very Kaiba-like expression of annoyance.

 

"You often played the fool, Jumoke, but it is not amusing now. Or have you truly forgotten your own name?"

 

Jonouchi blinked. "Huh? My name? I know my name. It's Jonouchi." He pronounced itvery clearly. It did sound a lot like the word the other man kept saying,"jumoke," if you mangled it with a foreign accent. "Pleased to meet you. I'd shake hands but I'm a little bit occupied at the moment. If you're not SetoKaiba -- and I'm guessing you're not because Kaiba wouldn't get a tan likethat from sitting in front of a computer all day, plus he probably wouldn'tbe caught dead in a getup like that -- so if you're not him, who the heck are you? If you don't mind my asking, that is."

 

The man with Bakura's eyes gave a growl and tried to throw him off, apparently thinking he was distracted, but Jonouchi pushed his head down and yanked his arm up a little higher.

 

"We'll get back to you in a minute," he said. "Just keep that snake quiet while we finish introducing ourselves, okay?"

 

He looked back at the other; the one who he was beginning to be more and more certain was not Seto Kaiba after all. The man was now looking at Jonouchi sadly. He knelt down next to Jonouchi, searching his face in a way that was beginning to make him uncomfortable. Kaiba's usual disdainful glances looking right through him were bad enough. The same blue eyes looking into his as if searching his soul--for some reason, that was even worse.

 

"You don't know me, yet you know the name of the tombrobber Bakura? The one whose evil magic brought us here... yet his evil has turned back on him, for whatever he intended, it certainly was not to bring me to the land beyond death, where I would find you again..."

 

Jonouchi caught that look of hope in his eyes again, a flash of joy in that soul-searching gaze. But then sadness and doubt returned.

 

"But you are changed. You know me, I can see it in your eyes, but you don't remember me." He reached out tentatively toward Jonouchi's face. Jonouchi looked at his hand suspiciously and he paused. "Could you forget me, even in death? I am Seth, your priest and master, your friend, and your lover..."

 

Jonouchi's mouth hung open. The words alone were bizarre enough. Hearing them in a foreign language that he understood perfectly, said by a guy who looked like Seto Kaiba with a tropical tan and a wacky hat, put it all way off the weirdness scale. For a second he thought it must be a joke his friends were playing on him. But the look on the face of the guy, that was no act. And even Yugi, Honda, Mai, and his mischievous sister together couldn't come up with a joke this crazy. So it had to be real.

 

"Oh man. I need Yugi for this. He's the only one who can make it all make sense."

 

Beneath him, the tomb robber Bakura started to laugh.

 

***

 

To be continued!

 


	2. Bitter Streets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The arrival of the two ancient Egyptians has a strange affect on two of Jonouchi's friends.

_Oh, I've been sad_

_And have walked bitter streets alone_

_And come morning_

_There's a good wind to blow me home..._

 

\--- Steven Winwood, The Finer Things

 

Chapter 2. Bitter Streets

 

When the clap of thunder shook the mansion, Seto Kaiba thought he'd finally lost his mind for sure. He felt himself falling, the room spinning around his head. The cards in his hand faded behind the black spots in his eyes.

 

It was only a simple duel with regular cards, he thought wildly, not a virtual game. Even if Mokuba had just wiped out half his life points, there was no reason to feel like he was dying. There was no reason to suddenly think of Jonouchi, either, the way he did just before he passed out, but that wasn't really surprising since he spent most of his time lately trying not to think about Jonouchi, and failing.

***

Earlier that morning, Kaiba had finally run out of excuses for putting off his planned trip to America. At breakfast, Mokuba had asked, "When are we leaving?" just as he had every morning for the past week. Disgruntled, Kaiba snapped at him.

 

"When circumstances permit, and no sooner! Don't ask me again, I'll let you know when it's time!"

 

He felt a rare pang of remorse as Mokuba got up and left the table with a pout. "Since when do you wait on circumstances?" he muttered, just loud enough for Seto to hear.

 

He had to admit, Mokuba was right. He'd always made his own circumstances, just like he'd always been in control of his own destiny. Otherwise, it was like waiting on luck.

 

Luck. There was no such thing as luck, or fate. Life was all about decisions, choices. Making your own destiny. That was all.

 

So he'd been telling himself every time he replayed his final Battle City duel, in his mind or on the computer. But then he had to remind himself that it was his choice, his decision, to remain here in Domino a month after the end of the tournament, instead of going to America as he'd planned. It was his choice to relive that last duel over and over again.

 

Every night he went to bed with a firm resolve to get up the next morning, pack, and leave. Every morning he got up, turned on the computer for what was supposed to be a quick glance at the news and weather ("Rare Heat Wave Hits Domino!"), and found himself three, four, five hours later, replaying the same duel. This morning had been no different.

 

He was beginning to drive himself crazy.

 

The fact that he'd snapped at Mokuba proved that. His little brother was used to him being obsessed with work, but clearly he could sense that there was something else going on here.

 

With a sigh, and a great effort of will, he had dragged his thoughts and eyes away from the replay on the screen and turned off the program, then went to find Mokuba.

 

The youngster was sitting in his game room, but none of the many electronic games were active. Instead, he was hunched over a table spread with Duel Monsters cards. His long black hair curtained his face, and only when Kaiba knelt right in front of him could he see the gloomy stare on his younger brother's face.

 

"Mokuba...." he began, then hesitated. His little brother didn't look up, and Kaiba found it uncomfortable speaking to his hunched shoulders. "Mokuba, the plans for this trip are getting on my nerves. It's complicated. And this damn weather, it's too hot to think clearly."

 

It wasn't like him to make excuses, and they sounded weak. Mokuba turned and looked at him skeptically, saying nothing. Uncomfortable under that familiar gaze, Kaiba glanced down at the cards on the table instead.

 

"What's this? You've been building your deck, I see." He spotted a couple of new, powerful cards, an impressive combo. "I didn't know you had those cards. Good choices."

 

Mokuba shrugged, and silently scooped the cards back into a neat pile.

 

"Mokuba.... would you like to go for a walk? We haven't been to the park in a long time."

 

That brought a more hopeful look to his brother's face, but the sulk wasn't over yet.

 

"It's too hot."

 

"You're right, I forgot," Kaiba said honestly. He glanced out the tall window. The sky seemed silvery-bright, and he could see heat waves rippling the air above the pavement outside. Even inside the air-conditioned mansion, the atmosphere was close and still and seemed charged with a nervous energy.

 

"Well, then, what about trying out your new deck? Do you think you can beat me with it?"

 

Mokuba's jaw almost hit the floor. Then his eyes lit up like roman candles.

 

"I don't have my duel disc here. But we could play the old way," he added hopefully.

 

Kaiba had to hold back a smile. He knew what Mokuba was thinking: he was afraid that in the time it took to go and get their duel discs, Kaiba would change his mind and go back to work.

 

He'd become accustomed to playing with either the duel disc or a computer simulation. The temptation was strong to go and get the technological toys, but he decided not to give in to it. He'd wasted enough time already on reliving that stupid duel electronically. It was time to get over it and get on with his life.

 

Either that...or face the fact that he was unable to stop thinking about Jonouchi Katsuya. And he wasn't quite ready to admit that. Not yet.

 

An old-fashioned card duel with his little brother might be just the thing to drag his mind off his obsession.

 

"I can beat you just as well with or without a duel disc," he said to Mokuba. "I'll even do it with a deck from your own card collection, if you're willing to risk it." Mokuba's case of cards lay open nearby, and even at a glance Kaiba's quick mind could see a handful of cards he could use to his advantage against Mokuba's new ones.

 

"All right!" Mokuba laughed. "You're on, Big Brother!"

 

He soon discovered that Mokuba's skill had improved dramatically since the last time they'd played. He was pleased to see that Mokuba stuck with his well-planned strategy in spite of Kaiba's efforts to derail him, especially since Seto's game was clearly confusing him. No wonder: aside from a few combinations, Seto had chosen his cards from Mokuba's collection nearly at random, and was playing cards no one had ever seen Seto Kaiba use before. When he blew away half of Mokuba's whole strategy with Graceful Dice, his little brother gaped in surprise.

 

"Are you okay, Seto?" he asked doubtfully.

 

Seto laughed. "I'm fine. You aren't going to let a little setback like that make you give up, are you?"

 

Mokuba looked at his devastated field and sighed. He made a mock motion of clutching his chest, as if this was a virtual game and he'd actually felt the loss of life points.

 

"I'm wounded! But I'm not dead yet!" His expression changed to one of triumph as he drew his next card. "Aha! Even your luck isn't enough to beat my backup strategy!" he cried as he placed the card in play. Then he flipped another card. To Seto's combined dismay and delight, his move reversed the entire play, and blew away more than half of Seto's life points at the same time.

 

Seto felt a wave of relief. He had been right - you could never rely on luck to win a duel, or for anything else in life. When would that mutt Jonouchi learn that!

 

The thought of Jonouchi caught him in the gut, and he winced. When would he stop thinking about that last damn duel? And why did it make his pulse race and his skin grow flushed and chilled every time he thought of it?

 

And why, he suddenly wondered, as thunder boomed unexpectedly outside, why did his lungs suddenly hurt like this, as if there was not enough air in the room to breath? He gasped, clutching his chest for real, as it felt like a fist had clenched around his heart. There was a pounding in his head, or was it another crack of thunder outside? Mokuba's face, at first amused and then alarmed, swam before him. Dark spots filled his vision and he felt himself falling, and naturally, absurdly, even that made him think of Jonouchi.

 

***

He came to a moment later - it seemed like only a moment, but he couldn't really tell how long he'd been out. He was lying on the floor with a pillow under his head, and Mokuba knelt beside him, talking frantically into his cell phone. It was difficult to think through the rushing, pounding sound in his head, but he heard Yugi's name, and that brought him up with a start.

 

"Mokuba!" he said sharply. At least, it was supposed to be sharp; it came out more like an old man's wheeze. "What do you think you're doing?"

 

Mokuba looked up at him, at once startled, relieved, and guilty. "I already called the medics, they're on their way. But you were saying something, it sounded - well, it sounded like Egyptian, like that weird chant we heard at Battle City, so I thought I ought to call Yugi, and...."

 

"Leave him out of it!" he snapped. "I'm feeling better. Just a dizzy spell from the heat," he added. He pushed himself up onto his elbows, even though the room spun crazily as he moved. "Tell Yugi to mind his own business. I'm fine."

 

"Okay. Sorry," Mokuba said sheepishly, and spoke quickly into the phone again.

 

Sweat was pouring off him, and he felt weak as a newborn kitten, but he pushed himself up to sit on the floor, leaning back against the chair in which he'd been sitting. He tried not to pant for breath too obviously. He could tell by Mokuba's concerned expression that he looked at least as bad as he really felt, but he was determined to overcome this weakness, especially since there was no reason for it.

 

Mokuba put a glass of water in his hand and he drank it gratefully. Plain water had never tasted so sweet. It reminded him of something, of the breeze by a river at twilight, and sand still warm from the day's heat... and Jonouchi's smiling face, as they shared the moment of peace....

 

"What am I thinking?" he muttered, setting the glass aside with a frown.

 

He tried to stand, but the black spots returned to his eyes and he sat down heavily on the carpet again. When the medics arrived a few minutes later, he didn't have the strength to pretend he didn't need them. Something was wrong - he only hoped to hell they could figure out what it was and fix it. For some reason, he had an uncomfortable feeling they weren't going to be any help.

 

***

 

Ryou Bakura woke up suddenly from a nap he never intended to take. That wasn't unusual, really, but ever since Battle City, the Spirit of the Ring had been considerate enough to at least warn him when he was about to take over, and always left him safe at home rather than letting him come to in a daze in some unfamiliar place.

 

This morning, he found himself sitting on the steps outside his apartment, in the hot, bright sun, and looking down at a handful of brand new Duel Monsters cards.

 

They were great cards, perfect for his occult deck. Too bad they were undoubtedly stolen. He sighed and tried to feel displeased, but they were just the latest in what seemed to be a number of little gifts that the spirit had brought home. At least, Ryou liked to think of them as gifts. The other Bakura, as he'd taken to calling the spirit, never acknowledged them as such.

 

The overheated air crackled. Ryou looked up to see the ghostly form of his other self sitting next to him, regarding him intently. He hid his delight quickly. Although the spirit spoke in his mind often, he rarely "saw" his other self, and he relished these glimpses of his shadowy companion. It was always fascinating to see how the other looked so much like himself and yet so different.

 

However, at the moment, the spirit didn't appear at all happy about something. The scowl on his face was alarming, but not nearly as frightening as it used to be.

 

"Listen..." he said sharply, the voice in Ryou's head coming like an echo from a waking dream.

 

"What is it?" he asked. Worry crept into him at the sense of urgency coming from the spirit.

 

"Something is happening. Look!"

 

Ryou followed his gaze to the Ring that hung around his neck. The points were trembling, and it gleamed faintly, adding its own glare to the bright sunlight.

 

"What's wrong?" Ryou asked more urgently.

 

"Some great evil is approaching. It must seek the power of the Millennium Items, or perhaps it is coming for the Pharaoh himself..." he frowned, and Ryou realized he was puzzled and angry. Evidently, although he knew something was wrong, he didn't know what it was. He looked off into the distance, peering into the realm of shadows, Ryou guessed, as if searching for the source of a disturbance that couldn't be seen.

 

And then he felt it, a wave hitting him, like a shock wave riding on a rumble of thunder. He gasped and doubled over as weakness swept through him.

 

To his shock, he felt a faint pressure of hands holding his shoulders - and looked up to see his other self looking into his face. Could that be concern? He blinked, and the scowling anger returned to his other self's face.

 

"Damn," the spirit muttered. "It's draining you. I can feel the very life being drawn from your body..."

 

"What's doing it?" Ryou gasped. "It feels terrible!"

 

"I don't know!" The spirit answered angrily, "and I don't know how to stop it, except..."

 

Ryou felt a strange shift, and then strength flew back into him like warmth and light after the cold. He looked around frantically for the spirit, but he was gone.

 

There was still a crackling energy in the air, as if another bolt of thunder might hit at any moment. Ryou looked down to see the Ring had lost its gleam and hung limp and still.

 

"Oh, no," he whispered.

 

Then, not realizing he was waiting for it, he heard the Voice in his mind again, though it seemed faint.

 

// _Warn the Pharaoh! Demand his help! I've given it my strength instead of yours, for now. But it is still drawing life from us. I don't know what it seeks, but find Yugi and warn him. Hurry, you fool!//_

 

The Voice faded. Ryou sat still for a moment, straining to hear it again, his heart pounding hollowly in his chest. Then he got up, surprisingly steady on his feet, and ran. The forgotten cards fluttered to the ground behind him.

 

***

 

to be continued...

 

 


	3. The Fractured Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jonouchi shows up at Yugi's house with Priest and Thief in tow.

The man who looked like Bakura was still laughing quietly as Jonouchi hauled him to his feet by yanking on the arm twisted up behind his back. He certainly wasn't a spirit, but once he was standing Jonouchi could see that he definitely wasn't Ryou Bakura, either. He was a couple inches taller and broader in the shoulders than Ryou, and an odor of sweat and grime clung to him that Jonouchi couldn't imagine coming from his fastidious classmate. And yet, Jonouchi felt certain, he *was* Bakura, and therefore dangerous.

 

"Now, get rid of those monsters..." Jonouchi began, but then stopped short. Bakura's creature had already disappeared. With a sigh, Seth made a gesture toward his fallen dragon, and it also vanished, drawn like smoke into the elaborate bracelet on his arm. Seth stood up straighter, taking another deep breath. Jonouchi watched him curiously. It looked almost as if he'd actually absorbed the dragon into himself.

 

He realized that Bakura was giving him the once-over, but shifted his eyes away as soon as Jonouchi caught him at it. Jonouchi got a better look at his face, noticing the intersecting scar lines on his cheek for the first time. Definitely not Ryou Bakura. Those eyes, though; even if they were a different color, they still reminded him of the Spirit of the Ring.

 

And the other guy, the Priest, still reminded him disturbingly of Seto Kaiba. The differences were more subtle. He could tell now that it wasn't Kaiba at all, but they were damn similar. Did he look as much like this Jumoke as Seth looked like Seto? That would be freaky. And those piercing blue eyes kept raking over him, as if seeking someone that he longed to see in Jonouchi's place. He felt a sudden unexpected flush of heat as he imagined Kaiba looking at him that way, with longing and hunger... 

 

He shook his head. _Whoa! Don't be thinking like that, Katsuya_ , he chided himself. _It'll never happen_. The idea was a lot more appealing than he wanted to admit, even to himself.

 

"What is this place?" Bakura asked. He sounded merely curious, but judging by the way his eyes kept darting around, Jonouchi guessed he was just as weirded out by his surroundings as Jonouchi was by seeing him here. 

 

"Domino City, Japan. If you're really from ancient Egypt like you're decked out to be, that won't mean much to you. I'll just tell you that the only Priest Seth I ever heard of existed in another part of the world, about 3000 years ago. This isn't the realm of the dead or anything like that. It's not even hell (although some people think it is). As far as I can guess, you two are either spirits come back to life, or you've popped from the past, what we call Ancient Egypt, into the future."

 

He watched them as he said all this. The Priest's frown deepened, and Jonouchi wouldn't have been surprised to hear him snort in disgust about fairy tales, just like Kaiba would have. Instead, he glanced questioningly at the tombrobber. 

 

Bakura's laughter stopped as he heard the words, but then he smirked. 

 

"We are not spirits," he said, with a significant look at Seth, reminding Jonouchi that he'd been about to send the priest to the afterworld with his monster's attack. "Beyond that, I know nothing of how we came to be in this place. I can see as plainly that this," he jerked his head toward Jonouchi, "is not a spirit either."

 

Seth's frown deepened as he looked again at Jonouchi with his searching glance. He didn't exactly seem pleased to notice that Jonouchi wasn't a ghost, which irritated Jonouchi just a bit. Seth's old lover might be dead, but he sure wasn't. The funny feelings he was starting to get from Seth's intense interest were proof of that.

 

"Never mind," he said, yanking on Bakura's arm. "Let's go find my friends. Yugi knows all about this kind of thing. He'll take care of the both of you. I hope."

 

Bakura offered no resistance, and Seth was too intent on studying Jonouchi (and making sure he kept control of Bakura) to worry about where they were going, so they had no further problems getting to the game shop. Fortunately, the few people who were out in the heat of the morning were too preoccupied to give them a glance. In a couple of minutes, they were standing at the back door of the shop. To Jonouchi's relief, Yugi himself who opened the door.

 

"Jonouchi! What...?"

 

"Hi Yugi! Meet Priest Seth and Tombrobber Bakura. I found them in an alley a few blocks away, trying to kill each other with real monsters. Mind if we come in?"

 

Yugi's mouth fell open as he took in the sight that greeted him. Jonouchi was glad to see that the two Egyptians seemed nearly as startled to see him as he was to see them. Evidently they recognized the Pharaoh in his modern form. It gave Jonouchi an odd feeling; he hadn't really been sure he believed that the other Yugi was really an ancient Egyptian Pharaoh until now. Maybe here was proof that he was.

 

At least, he thought that's what it was. Then, to his surprise, Seth and Bakura exchanged a skeptical glance. Seth laughed.

 

"This is your wise friend who will explain all? Now I know you are joking with me," he said. He turned to Yugi. "Nkuku, you know you are not allowed outside the palace on your own! What mischief has Jumoke led you into?" 

 

To Jonouchi's distress, even Bakura seemed amused, although he looked at Yugi as intently as he'd studied Jonouchi. With a sinking feeling he realized that Yugi looked like someone they knew -- but it wasn't the Pharaoh!

 

"Jonouchi, what's going on?" Yugi asked anxiously. "I thought this was Kaiba, even though Mokuba just called to say he was sick. But it's not Kaiba, is it?"

 

"Nope. And this guy's not our Bakura, even though he has the same name and the same bad attitude as that other Bakura." 

 

"Wow," Yugi said, looking up in wonder at the scarred Egyptian. 

 

"Wait a sec," Jonouchi said, registering what Yugi had just said. "Did you say the real Kaiba is sick? What's wrong with him?"

 

"I guess he collapsed from the heat. Mokuba sounded pretty worried, but then Kaiba started to recover, so he said everything was fine and hung up."

 

Seth looked more puzzled as Yugi spoke. Whoever he thought Yugi was, the priest didn't seem too pleased with the fact that he spoke directly to Jonouchi while ignoring him.

 

"Look," Jonouchi said, "We're all a little confused, so how about we all go inside and figure it out? Speaking of collapsing from the heat, it's pretty hot standing out here."

 

"Of course!" Yugi threw open the door and stood aside as they all trooped in. Jonouchi let go of Bakura's arm once he was inside the room, but stayed within reach. 

 

Seth strolled in as if he owned the place, and immediately claimed the best chair in Yugi's sitting room. He sat there like a king holding court, impatiently looking to Jonouchi for answers. After a glance of disgust at the thief, he pointedly ignored both him and Yugi.

 

Bakura stalked in more cautiously, his eyes darting around to take in every object. "Casing the joint," Jonouchi muttered under his breath. The tombrobber chose a chair within sight of all, and not far from the door.

 

Jonouchi longed to sit, but instead he draped himself against a bookcase. It wasn't the best spot to be part of the conversation, but it left him within a leg's reach of the doorway, should he need to trip anyone who tried to make a hasty exit.

 

When he turned back to Yugi, he realized at once that the other Yugi had taken over. 

 

"What's this all about, Jonouchi?" he asked seriously.

 

Seth looked clearly startled this time, apparently even more confused by the Pharaoh's serious tone of voice. Bakura cocked his head, watching the other Yugi curiously, although his eyes darted frequently between Seth and Jonouchi as well. He still had a small smile on his lips, but Jonouchi got the impression he was like a cat who had tumbled, then stalked away as if it had meant to do it. Underneath his cool attitude, the thief was just as confused as the priest.

 

It took several minutes of very confused conversation to explain what had happened so far. Dark Yugi seemed most startled to discover that Jonouchi now understood ancient Egyptian. Jonouchi hadn't realized that he'd been speaking it as well, until Dark Yugi pointed it out. 

 

"So, what does this mean, I've got some ancient spirit in me, too?" Jonouchi said nervously.

 

"No, I don't think so," Dark Yugi answered thoughtfully. "But clearly your spirit has lived before, just as Seto Kaiba's has. Strange, I wasn't aware of this," he said, and fell into a troubled silence. 

 

"But how come they don't know you're the Pharaoh?" Jonouchi asked. Without realizing it, he'd spoken in the ancient tongue. 

 

"Nkuku, Pharaoh of Egypt!" Seth exploded. "Utter nonsense! Blasphemy!"

 

"His name is Akiiki, is it not?" Bakura asked, looking sidelong at Seth.

 

"Yes," Seth answered irritably. "But all refer to him as Nkuku. And he has spoken less than ten words in his life. He lives in a dream, and plays with any shiny object he happens upon. He is an idiot. He has no family. King Akunadin has taken him in, in his mercy, and lets him roam the palace, but he is of no use to anyone."

 

Jonouchi suddenly recognized the name Nkuku as a word; it meant "rooster." It didn't take Seth's derisive tone for Jonouchi to guess that the nickname was not entirely affectionate. 

 

At the same time, he could see Seth's confusion as Dark Yugi watched him shrewdly. Even the stubborn priest must be able to see that this "Nkuku" was no idiot. Jonouchi saw him eyeing Yugi's clothing, taking in the black shirt and jeans adorned with leather straps and silver buckles. Seth's eyes narrowed, studying the markings on the golden inverted pyramid that hung on a chain around Yugi's neck. 

 

"Yeah, that's right," Jonouchi said suddenly. "The Millennium Puzzle! You must recognize that, it goes with the Pharaoh - right, Yugi?" he said. 

 

Seth, and Bakura as well, leaned forward to get a closer look, as Dark Yugi lifted the puzzle in his hands.

 

To his dismay, they both looked mildly surprised and curious, nothing more.

 

"It bears the Sacred Eye of the Royal Items of Power, which should only be held by the Pharaoh himself and his priests," Seth said with a scowl of disapproval. "But I have never seen its like. The Pharaoh himself bears the Golden Eye. And as his Chief Priest and Prince of the Kingdom, I am entrusted to carry this!" 

 

He held up the Millennium Rod. Jonouchi had forgotten he was carrying that thing and watched him warily as he brandished it before him. There was hardly a flicker from its golden surface, though, and after a moment, Seth placed it back in his belt. 

 

"Your trinket is some copy of the Royal Items, no more than a toy," Seth said haughtily to Dark Yugi. "It means nothing to me. Be cautious though," he added with a glance aside at Bakura. "The tomb robber's fingers will itch to claim such a pretty toy."

 

Jonouchi thought for sure Bakura would be interested in the Puzzle, if he was the same Bakura as the Spirit of the Ring who had tried to steal Yugi's Millennium Item the first time he saw it, but even the thief appeared only mildly curious about the object. He shrugged, barely reacting to Seth's words, although he still watched Dark Yugi with great interest.

 

Dark Yugi and Jonouchi exchanged a look of concern. How could they know nothing of the Millennium Puzzle if they were from the Pharaoh's time and knew of the other Items?

 

"What does this mean, Yug?" Jonouchi asked uncomfortably.

 

"I don't know," Dark Yugi muttered. He seemed to withdraw for a moment, his gaze unfocused. Then he returned. "Aibou has the answer, I think," he said. "They are from an ancient past that is different - another reality, similar to my own past but not the same. In that reality, your likeness lived, and another Pharaoh ruled. Without my memories of the time, it is difficult to say what else is different. However, this much is clear: in that time, I myself did not exist as Pharaoh!"

 

Jonouchi and Dark Yugi stared thoughtfully at their Egyptian guests, who sat silently, regarding them in turn. Jonouchi felt at a total loss. If Yugi couldn't make sense of all this, who could? What were they supposed to do with these two? 

 

An awkward silence fell. Seth sat with arms crossed, scowling, clearly expecting someone - Jonouchi, in fact - to do something. Bakura gave a little shake of his head as if dismissing them all, and relaxed in his chair. He closed his eyes, although Jonouchi was certain he remained ready to move if he saw a reason.

 

Dark Yugi appeared to be very deep in thought. Jonouchi's mind was so full of thoughts that it might as well be blank. Through it all, the sudden thought of Seto Kaiba surfaced, as if there was something he should remember.

 

Before he could figure it out, they all jumped at a sudden pounding on the door. After a startled moment, Yugi jumped up to answer it. 

 

There on the doorstep stood Ryou Bakura, soaked with sweat and disheveled as Jonouchi had never seen him, with a look of desperation on his face.

 

"Yugi!" he gasped. "I've come to warn you! We're all in great danger!"

 

***

tbc

 

 


	4. Truths and Consequences

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted online back around 2006.

"Yugi... I've come ...to warn you," Ryou cried, panting between words as if he'd run all the way here. "... Something terrible... Oh!" His eyes grew huge as he caught sight of Thief Bakura. "Oh..." he gasped again. "It's _you_!"

 

Jonouchi's mind, adjusting to yet more strangeness, was able to register the fact that they didn't look all that much alike after all when you saw them face to face. Yet you could still see some of Yami Bakura in each of them. At the same time, a thought that had been at the back of his mind all along seemed to leap to the front of his brain: Could the Spirit of the Ring be the cause of all this strangeness? He'd vanished after Battle City, but it wouldn't be the first time he'd come back from oblivion to cause trouble.

 

Bakura stepped forward to face Ryou, who stood in the doorway, panting and dripping with sweat. They stared at each other for a few seconds. Jonouchi thought Ryou's eyes couldn't possibly get any bigger. The thief's glance traveled up and down Ryou's body appraisingly.

 

"Well... my, my, you are a pretty one, aren't you?" Bakura said with a smile that was just short of a leer.

 

Ryou blushed a very rosy shade of pink and blinked several times rapidly in confusion, his long lashes fluttering.

 

"I am? I mean, thank you..." he stammered, "You... oh dear..."

 

" _Bakura_!" Jonouchi, Yugi, and Seth all snapped the thief’s name at once, all equally sharply but in quite different tones. Seth muttered something that Jonouchi heard as "shameless slut!" and he knew the priest wasn't referring to Ryou. But he and Yugi were alarmed at their friend's ditzy reaction to the thief's attention. Bakura's smile turned to something more unpleasant as he once again locked gazes with Seth.

 

"What does it matter to you if I approach another? Or is he to your liking as well, Priest?"

 

Seth's face flushed darkly, and his lips were a thin, tight line as he glared at the thief. Bakura gave an impatient snort and turned back to Ryou, who was now staring up at him with an even more amazed, but also more intelligent, expression.

 

"Bakura is also your name?" Ryou said in a tone of awe. "I've often wondered if it was, but he would never admit it."

 

Bakura frowned at him. "What nonsense are you speaking? What of my name?"

 

With a shock, Jonouchi realized that they understood each other; it took him a second more to realize that Ryou was speaking Ancient Egyptian like a native. From the looks on Yugi's and Seth's faces, he was the only one who had noticed this, and the only other one in the room who could understand all that was being said. Even Dark Yugi seemed puzzled by some of what the Egyptians said, and Seth clearly couldn't understand a word spoken in English.

 

He knew Ryou's father had been in Egypt and did some kind of work related to Egyptian history, but he didn't think that included giving lessons in ancient, lost languages to his son. He wondered when Ryou had learned to speak Ancient Egyptian - and then had a feeling that he knew exactly when: the same time he did.

 

But before he could mention this confusing fact, Yugi spoke up.

 

"Bakura - I mean, Ryou - are you saying this isn't the Spirit of the Ring? Or is it?"

 

"No. I mean yes it's the same person, but not the Spirit. Oh!" he jumped, as if suddenly recalling himself, and he turned to Yugi and Jonouchi with an urgent look. "This must be what he was warning me about!"

 

"What, the Spirit of the Ring gave you a warning?" Jonouchi asked in surprise.

 

"Yes, just before something happened to him. He said some great threat was approaching, and then there was a loud bang like thunder and he disappeared. A little later I only heard his voice warning me to find the Pharaoh. He said we were all in danger, and something was draining my life force."

 

He paused and glanced wonderingly at the thief before he continued. "I don't know what he meant, but he seemed to think he could protect me from it for awhile, if he gave it his own strength instead. I don't understand, but for a moment I felt weak, and then it passed. But he's gone now. It was as if something was dragging him away. And... he let it happen to protect me," he finished in a whisper.

 

He placed his hand over his chest and looked down. To Jonouchi's surprise he seemed more sad than anything else. But then Ryou's eyes lifted to the thief's face again, searching it. It was the same way Seth kept searching his own face, Jonouchi noticed, as if he could almost find what he hoped for there, but not quite.

 

"This is strange," Dark Yugi said thoughtfully.

 

"That's putting it lightly!" Jonouchi agreed. "I thought maybe the Spirit of the Ring was behind all this, but now.... I'm not so sure. About anything."

 

Dark Yugi nodded in agreement. Jonouchi noticed Bakura had gone very quiet again, and was now regarding Ryou with much more seriousness than he had at first.

 

"Who is this person you speak of who tried to warn you?" he asked. His voice was low, but Jonouchi thought he caught a hidden urgency in the question. Seth was clearly annoyed by all of this, but looked on curiously as well.

 

"Well, in a way I guess it's you," Ryou said to Bakura. "You're from the past, aren't you?" he guessed shrewdly after a glance at the thief's clothing, and at Seth. Bakura's eyes narrowed but he didn't reply. "In the present, you're a spirit, and you're a part of this..."

 

Jonouchi felt the hair on the back of his neck rise as Ryou drew the Millennium Ring out from under his shirt. Nothing good had ever happened when that thing had appeared. He'd hardly stopped to wonder what had happened to it after Battle City, but he'd hoped it was gone for good. Seeing it again was enough of a threat as far as he was concerned.

 

But all that happened for a moment was that Bakura looked, just for a second, more disconcerted than he had since Jonouchi had first seen him. And then his face closed down completely.

 

What happened next was more unexpected. Seth gave a cry, a shocked howl of anguish and anger, and leaped forward, shoving the thief aside. Before Yugi or Jonouchi could react, he had one hand around Ryou's throat, the other white-fisted hand gripping the Ring and pulling its cord tight around Ryou's neck as well.

 

Jonouchi and Yugi both jumped on him to save their friend from strangulation, but Seth had the strength of a man maddened by grief.

 

"Jumoke's Ring!" he cried through gritted teeth. "How did you gain possession of Jumoke's Ring?" He shook Ryou, who was too rattled and strangled to answer, even if he'd had an answer to give.

 

"Get off him, you maniac!" Jonouchi shouted, finally wrenching Seth's vice-like fingers off Ryou's throat. Dark Yugi got hold of Seth's other hand with both of his and at least managed to keep him from completely strangling Ryou with the cord.

 

"That Ring belongs to Ryou," Dark Yugi snapped. His tone of authority got Seth's attention for a moment. "Whoever may have owned it in your time, it is his now! Leave him be!"

 

Seth hesitated a little, but he was obviously unconvinced, and didn't loosen his grip. "When Jumoke's body was found, the Ring was missing," he said, with the slightest crack in his voice. "It has not been seen since! There is no other like it, so those who now have it must be Jumoke's murderers, or know of them!"

 

The harsh anger on his face shocked Jonouchi. Even Dark Yugi paused, although he did not loosen his grip on Seth's hand. Ryou was pale and still choking. He looked like he was afraid to move, for which Jonouchi didn't blame him.

 

A quiet voice spoke from behind them.

 

"That is certainly not Jumoke's Ring," the thief said.

 

"What would you know of it?" Seth snarled. Suspicion showed in his face as he twisted his head around to look at Bakura without letting go of Ryou. Intent on keeping Ryou breathing, both Yugi and Jonouchi kept their attention on Seth. "So you are not ignorant of Jumoke's murder as you claimed?"

 

"I know that is not his Ring," Bakura went on calmly. "Because I have Jumoke's Ring myself."

 

Seth's eyes widened, and his grip on Ryou faltered. Jonouchi spared Bakura a glance. His mouth fell open as he saw that it was true. A golden chain looped around Bakura's long fingers, and from it dangled another Millennium Ring.

 

"Yugi... look!" he said in a choked whisper. Dark Yugi turned with a scowl, and gave a soft gasp.

 

Seth's face turned nearly as white as his robes.

 

Slowly, Seth let go of Ryou, who gasped as he caught his breath and steadied himself on Yugi's arm. Seth shook Jonouchi's hands off him as well as he turned. Jonouchi didn't like the look in Seth's eyes as he faced the thief. Judging from the flicker in his eyes, Bakura didn't like it either, but he stood his ground, unmoving.

 

"So," Seth said, his voice suddenly cold and soft again. "So it is true, as Pharaoh Akunadin himself suspected, and as I in my foolishness denied. Out of your endless greed and jealousy, tombrobber, _you_ murdered Jumoke."

 

Bakura said nothing. The Ring hung in the air in front of him. Its gold was bright and it glittered sharply, differently from the old, dull gleam of Ryou's Ring, but it could not be any other artifact. Jonouchi glanced over at Dark Yugi to see him gazing at it in amazement, one hand touching his own Millennium Puzzle as if to assure himself that it was still there. Ryou clutched his own Ring as if for dear life.

 

Seth took a step toward Bakura, pulling the Millennium Rod out of his belt to hold in front of him. Again, Jonouchi's neck hairs bristled, remembering the damage caused by that Item in Malik's grasp. Bakura's glance flickered to it, but he held Seth's gaze - bravely, Jonouchi had to admit. He wouldn't want to be the one facing the Priest just then.

 

"I did not kill your precious Jumoke," Bakura said finally. "I last saw him breathing and full of life. I did not believe it when I heard he was dead. I came to his tomb to see if it was true, only to have you attack me."

 

Seth's lip curled. "You came to rob Jumoke's tomb and mock my grief," he said.

 

"You know me so well," Bakura said sarcastically. "Wise Priest and Prince who knows all! I did not steal anything from your Jumoke. He gave me the Ring of his own will."

 

"You lie so easily," Seth said. "Why would he do such a thing?"

 

"To protect you. Or so he said. I was not willing to take it, but he forced it on me." Bakura's voice dripped with acid as he continued. "He seemed to have the mistaken idea that I might care what happened to his beloved priest."

 

Jonouchi winced at the venom in his words.

 

Seth shuddered. "Liar," he hissed.

 

He gripped the Millennium Rod with both hands, his knuckles white and shaking. Then with a flicker, a glittering blade appeared in his hands. Ryou yelped, Yugi gasped, and Jonouchi jumped back a step, yelling "whoa!" In the next second, Seth lunged for Bakura.

 

The thief was apparently as surprised as the rest of them by the sudden appearance of the blade from the magical Item's handle. He gaped, standing there as Seth flew at him. Without thinking about it, Jonouchi leaped after Seth and grabbed his arm just before it could plunge the blade into the thief's chest.

 

That gave Bakura the second he needed to recover his wits and twist out of the way. He grappled with Seth and tripped him while Jonouchi still had hold of him. The three of them went down in a tangle on the floor. Seth snarled in rage and Bakura grunted, while above them Jonouchi could hear Yugi yelling something. There was a flurry of fists and elbows, the flashing blade, white robes and red ones tangling their limbs.

 

Suddenly Jonouchi found himself flipped off into the air. He landed hard against the solid arm of Yugi's sofa, which knocked the wind out of him. He heard Yugi shout again and another yelp of alarm from Ryou, and a thud as someone else was apparently knocked aside. Just as he was shaking his head to clear it, the blade came flying through the air and landed point down in the floor next to his foot.

 

He looked up in time to see a flash of red, as Thief Bakura slipped out the door and disappeared.

 

***

 

To be continued! Next chapter: Seth meets Seto, and Ryou joins in the search for Thief Bakura!

 

 

 


	5. Strange Reflections

Once the blood was flowing properly to his brain, Ryou's only thought was that he couldn't let Bakura disappear again. Unfortunately, the murderous priest had landed half on top of him when Bakura shoved him aside. By the time Ryou got untangled from Seth's robes and scrambled to his feet, Bakura was long gone.

 

He stood on Yugi's doorstep for a moment, looking up and down the empty street. The sun beat on his face, and he shaded his eyes against the glare. A few people wandered by, looking wilted in the heat, but there was no sign of the thief.

 

The look in Bakura's blue eyes when he'd first caught sight of Ryou was seared into his memory, just as sharply as the familiar sound of the Spirit's voice in his head. He had to see him again. He spun around and looked to his friends.

 

"We have to find him!" he said urgently.

 

Dark Yugi was too busy staring down at Seth to hear him. Ryou paused. He hadn't seen that expression on Dark Yugi's face for a long time. It usually preceded a Mind Crush or a devastating Penalty Game.

 

However, Priest Seth looked crushed already, and Ryou was certain Dark Yugi hadn't had time to do anything to him. The priest was still sitting on the floor, his legs entangled in his blue and white robes. His tall headpiece had been knocked off, and without it his resemblance to Seto Kaiba was even more striking -- except for the grimace of horror he wore as he stared at his empty hands. Ryou had never seen Kaiba with an expression like that.

 

"How dare you attack my friend in my home, as well as a man who had just proclaimed his innocence before us all?" Dark Yugi shouted at him. He sounded every bit the pharaoh that he once was. "Did you mean to execute Bakura for a crime for which you have no evidence and no confession? What demon made you lift your hand against him?"

 

"Yeah," Jonouchi added as he stood up and dusted himself off. He seemed equally annoyed with Seth, although he put it somewhat differently. He looked down at the blade still quivering in the floor by his foot. "Get a grip, will you? Not that we believe him or anything, but still! And what's the deal about that other me having the Ring? No offense, Ryou my friend, but I don't want anything to do with that thing."

 

Ryou stared at him as it finally clicked: Seth's dead friend Jumoke, former keeper of his Ring, was the ancient counterpart of Jonouchi. Judging from Seth’s reaction, they’d been a bit more than just friends.

 

Seth ignored Dark Yugi's lecture on justice and balance, but he looked up at Jonouchi with a pained expression. Jonouchi shifted uncomfortably. Ryou had the impression Seth was seeing Jonouchi as if for the first time. Then his eyes focused on something else, as if he was looking through Jonouchi into the past.

 

"Jumoke! May your soul forgive me. I dishonor your memory ... " he said. His voice trailed off, and he looked down at his hands again. He shuddered, and then made a sound almost like a sob. "Oh, Bakura, my beloved, thief of my heart! How has so much evil come between us?"

 

Ryou's heart flopped in his chest like a landed fish. Staring down at the priest, he imagined he heard Jonouchi's jaw hit the floor.

 

"What did you say?" Dark Yugi gasped.

 

With a deep sigh, Seth raised his head to face them. He looked at Jonouchi and shook his head sadly. He looked much less like Kaiba with his face streaked with tears.

 

"Forgive me also, J'nuchi," he said, mangling Jonouchi's name with his accent. He glanced at Ryou. "This boy appears so much like Bakura, and yet so different. Now I can see how my hope made you appear more like Jumoke than you are. Though you could almost be his Double, I realize that you do not have his spirit within you."

 

He sighed again as they watched, waiting for him to explain.

 

"Bakura, the thief, was my first love. A fragment of my heart still belongs to him. But a High Priest of the Gods and the favorite of Pharaoh cannot love a common boy with no family, certainly not a thief - not even the Prince of Thieves. And he lost his love for me when I remained loyal to Pharaoh Akunadin, whom he hates, and loyal to the laws of Egypt, which he has no concern for.

 

"It has not even been long since we parted ways. I had not seen him or heard word of him for over a year, and I feared he had come to some evil end. Pharaoh despises tomb robbers even above murderers, since they cut short the eternal journey of the soul, and his soldiers deal harshly with the thieves who raid caravans as well. I read every report of the arrest of tomb robbers and the thieves in case he was among them, but he was never caught. I thought he must have left Egypt, as he used to say he would some day. Then, not long ago, he returned unexpectedly, and found me with Jumoke."

 

His eyes looked far away and he winced as he remembered. Ryou glanced over at Jonouchi, but he couldn't read his friend's expression.

 

"Bakura threatened Jumoke then?" Dark Yugi asked. His voice was much more gentle, but still demanded an answer.

 

Seth gave his head a quick shake.

 

"No. His anger was all for me. In my shame, I only had harsh words for him as well. He left before I could call them back. Then Jumoke disappeared, and was later found dead. I went to visit his tomb this morning, to leave a gift for his journey. I found Bakura already there."

 

"And that's what led you to call up your monsters and fight," Jonouchi concluded. "He was planning to kill you, too!"

 

Seth drew his knees up to his chest and dropped his head onto them. "I no longer know," he said, his voice muffled. "But I do not think he meant to kill me. I did not believe Bakura would kill anyone, even when my Pharaoh thought him capable of it. When I saw Jumoke's Ring in his hands just now I lost all reason. But my heart will still not believe it."

 

He raised his head and looked up at Jonouchi. "I called my creature forth to defend Jumoke's tomb. I feared the thief had come to desecrate it. Perhaps that's true. But Bakura knew he could not kill me with his beast. His ka is not as strong as mine, and I have the Rod besides."

 

"So, what, he was only trying to scare you in that duel back in the alley just now?" Jonouchi said. "That's not what it looked like from where I was standing! Anyway, he had the Ring he could use against you."

 

"But he didn't use the Ring," Dark Yugi said, voicing Ryou's thoughts. "He only revealed that he had it in order to prevent Seth from killing our Bakura. As far as we can tell, the only one who has tried to kill anyone is Seth."

 

"Oh. Well.. yeah." Jonouchi seemed reluctant to see it that way.

 

Ryou rubbed his neck where the cord had dug into it. He knew he might be biased in favor of the thief, but it was pretty clear to him who had tried to kill whom.

 

Seth shuddered, his hands clenched convulsively.

 

"I am no murderer," he said. "My heart was twisted by grief. I'm glad that the gods allowed J'nuchi to prevent Bakura's death at my hand."

 

Ryou felt grateful for that as well, intensely grateful, but he wasn't sure it was the right time to say so. Seth didn't say anything about being glad _he_ was still alive, after all.

 

"Yeah, well, I don't know what made me do it, to tell you the truth," Jonouchi said. "Just didn't want to see anyone's blood all over Yugi's carpet." He rubbed the back of his head and made a whistling sound. "Anyway, what are we supposed to do now?"

 

No one had an answer. Seth was lost in his anguished thoughts. Dark Yugi had fallen silent as well, watching Seth thoughtfully.

 

Ryou's thoughts spun around as Seth's revelations mixed with everything else that had happened since the Spirit had appeared with his warning. It was all very confusing, with two Millennium Rings, an ancient version of Jonouchi, and Bakura here in the flesh....

 

He blushed hotly as he remembered the thief's eyes on him. His mind flashed back to the first glimpse he'd had of the man when he stood there panting on Yugi's doorstep. He'd first noticed lean, muscular legs and feet in leather sandals, and then a flash of broad shoulders and a tanned, bare chest. It was quite an eyeful, even in his distracted state of mind. And that was before he'd raised his eyes and realized who he was looking at.

 

Those thoughts just added to his confusion, until only one thing came clear to him.

 

"We have to find him!" he said again.

 

This time, Dark Yugi looked at him and nodded.

 

***

 

Jonouchi called Honda and Yugi called Anzu. They were going to need help sorting all this out and finding the missing thief. Besides, Jonouchi knew they wouldn't want to miss out on all the excitement.

 

When they arrived, Jonouchi explained the situation to them as well as he could. By the time he got done they were thoroughly confused. It didn't help that he kept lapsing into the Egyptian language without realizing it.

 

It also didn't help that Seth stood off to one side of the room, silently brooding, while Ryou stared out the window and fretted quietly on the other side. Seth had made a brief bow toward Ryou, which Jonouchi figured was the closest he was going to get to an apology for almost strangling him. After that, Seth carefully avoided looking in Ryou's direction again. Ryou seemed happy to return the favor.

 

Jonouchi found Ryou's concern for the Spirit of the Ring and the Thief as baffling as anything else that had happened. But then, he reflected, it made as much sense as his own feelings toward Seto Kaiba. Those looks of longing Seth had been giving him had brought something to the surface in Jonouchi's heart, something that he'd just as soon have kept buried.

 

Something else about Kaiba kept knocking at the back of his mind, but it wasn't until Dark Yugi spoke up that he suddenly remembered what he'd been about to remember before Ryou arrived.

 

"I won't be helping with the search," Dark Yugi said. "I'm going to take Seth to meet Kaiba."

 

Jonouchi remembered what he'd forgotten, with a jolt that twisted his gut.

 

"Wait a second, didn't you say Kaiba got sick or something?" he asked. He tried not to sound as fretful as Ryou.

 

"Yes. Mokuba called and said he'd collapsed from the heat and was acting strangely. However, while we were talking, Kaiba seemed to revive. Now, I wonder. Ryou had a strange spell of weakness when Bakura arrived from the past. It's probably no coincidence that Seto Kaiba collapsed at the same time. In Ryou's case, the Spirit of the Ring absorbed the effect, at least for the time being. However, he seemed to think Ryou is still in danger. And Kaiba has no such shield against whatever is causing the weakness."

 

Jonouchi didn't like the sound of this at all, but he didn't say so. Dark Yugi turned to Seth and explained where they were going. Seth looked down his nose. Apparently his time spent brooding had allowed him to regain his lost dignity.

 

"I will go with J'nuchi," he said imperiously.

 

Jonouchi rolled his eyes. Even though Seth had finally accepted that he wasn't Jumoke, he still refused to believe that "Nkuku" had any wit or authority in the matter. He had barely acknowledged Honda and Anzu when they arrived, and continued to act as if Jonouchi was the only real person in the room. It was flattering but annoying.

 

"All right, then I'll go to Kaiba's with you," he said, exchanging a glance with Dark Yugi. "Just to make my day complete, I'll go hang out with two of the biggest snobs in the world," he muttered. He heard Anzu and Honda try to stifle their laughter. Fortunately, Seth hadn't understood that last bit.

 

Dark Yugi nodded his approval, and called Mokuba to tell him they were coming. Mokuba was reluctant to speak to him at all, until he mentioned they might know something that would help Kaiba, if he was still feeling weak. The next thing they knew, a long black limo was pulling up outside Yugi's door.

 

***

 

Jonouchi had to stifle his amusement at Seth's shock as they drove swiftly through the crowds and towering buildings of downtown Domino. He and Yugi explained that, no, these were not temples of the gods, or palaces of kings, or monuments to the dead, but the workplaces and homes of common people.

 

Of course, the most impressive building in the city was KaibaCorp Tower. Once he connected that with the person they were going to see, nothing could convince Seth that Kaiba wasn't a great ruler of their world. Jonouchi shook his head in disgust, but he had to admit it made a strange sort of sense. If the modern world was ruled by wealth and technology, Kaiba was certainly a prince in that realm.

 

Seth relaxed visibly when they arrived at the mansion. He seemed right at home with the bowing servants who held doors and tried not to stare too openly as he passed, and he glanced around the mansion with approval, even though it must have been different from anything he'd ever seen before. Jonouchi realized that wealth and power were probably recognizable in any time and place.

 

Mokuba came running into the foyer to greet them. When he caught sight of Seth, his jaw dropped and his feet stopped moving. He skidded halfway across the polished marble floor to a stop right in front of them. He stared up with wide eyes at the priest, at his tall headgear and his severe, blue-eyed gaze.

 

"Seto?" he said in a small, wondering voice.

 

While Yugi explained to Mokuba, Jonouchi caught Seth's displeased scowl at the younger boy.

 

"This is Mokuba, Kaiba's younger brother," he said, taking care to speak in Seth's language.

Seth turned from Mokuba's upturned face to Jonouchi. He looked startled.

 

"He thinks I am his brother? Then it's true that I resemble this Kaiba as closely as you resemble Jumoke?" he asked.

 

"Oh, yeah," Jonouchi said, nodding emphatically. "You resemble him a lot."

 

Mokuba couldn't help staring at Seth as he led them up the broad staircase and down a long corridor. Seth tolerated his stares with a little more patience than usual, it seemed to Jonouchi, until Mokuba paused by a closed door.

 

"He's in here. Just let me go in and tell him you're here." He shook his head slightly and sighed. For the first time, Jonouchi noticed how worried he was. "I sure hope you can help," he said.

 

To Jonouchi's surprise, Mokuba was looking at him when he said this. Then he disappeared into Kaiba's room.

 

 

***

 

Seto Kaiba hated being sick. He rarely fell ill, and when he did he usually ignored it. There was no way he could ignore the weakness he felt now, or the weird thoughts and fever-like dreams that kept flooding his mind.

 

Since his initial moment of light-headedness, he'd been assaulted by increasingly strong waves of this physical weariness that made it difficult to lift a hand. Those spells alternated with weird dreams and brief moments of clarity. One minute he'd be able to struggle against the weakness, demanding answers of his private medical team or barking instructions to his staff. The next minute, taxed by the effort of speaking, he'd fall back onto the pillows of the hastily rigged hospital bed they'd placed him in and lie there helplessly for a while. And then he'd fall into one of those dreams.

 

It didn't even surprise him that Jonouchi's face appeared in his muddled visions. He was more annoyed that his dreams were invaded by images from that ancient Egyptian fairy tale that Yugi kept spouting at everyone.

 

He opened his eyes after one of those dreams to find Mokuba standing by the bed, asking him a question.

 

"Were you just asking to see Jonouchi, Big Brother?" Mokuba asked. He sounded surprised and hopeful, as if this was a great idea.

 

Kaiba scowled and roused himself, embarrassed and alarmed to discover he'd been talking out loud in the midst of his fever-dreams.

 

"Of course not! Why would I want to see that mutt?" he snapped - or what passed for snapping in his current condition.

 

"Well," Mokuba hesitated. "Jonouchi's here to see you," he went on in a rush. "And Yugi, and... someone else you should see, Seto."

 

"What?" He glared at Mokuba.

 

"They know what's happening to you. I think they can help you. Your own doctors aren't doing any good. I think you should listen to them, Seto," Mokuba said.

 

Kaiba could see his little brother was determined, and even when he was well, he had a hard time arguing with a determined Mokuba. At the moment he was too weak to argue. He just hoped they wouldn't stay long, and even more fervently, he hoped he wouldn't lapse into one of his rambling dreams while they were here.

 

"Fine, let them in for a minute and then get rid of them," he muttered.

 

Mokuba's face broke into a hopeful grin as he darted away. Kaiba laid his head back on the pillow and closed his eyes, breathing deeply to gather his strength.

 

When he opened his eyes again a moment later, all he saw was Jonouchi.

 

Big, glimmering brown eyes under that honey-gold mane of hair were staring down at him. He'd girded himself to face a smirk of superiority, or worse yet, pity, on the blond's face. He was startled to find that Jonouchi looked just plain scared.

 

"Jeeze, Kaiba, you look like shit," Jonouchi muttered. He sounded as if Kaiba looking like shit was a sign of the end of the world.

 

"Jonouchi!" Yugi's voice cut in to Kaiba's thoughts.

 

Jonouchi reacted like he was covering something up. "Just trying to get a reaction out of him, Yuge!" he said, grinning but embarrassed, and looking more like his usual idiotic self. Kaiba almost forgot himself and smiled. When had the mutt's idiocy become so charming?

 

With an effort, Kaiba dragged his attention away from Jonouchi to the shorter boy. Yugi's expression of concern was no surprise; it was merely annoying. He started to protest that there was nothing wrong with him and pushed himself up on his elbows. Then his gaze landed on the third person who had entered the room.

 

For a few seconds he couldn't make sense of what he was seeing - his own brown hair, intent blue eyes, and tight-lipped, unsmiling mouth stared back at him. Had someone brought a mirror into the room? But then he recognized the clothing his supposed reflection wore. He'd seen that ridiculous outfit in those visions from Yugi's fantasy.

 

Indignation gave him a rare burst of energy. He sat up in bed and glared at all of them.

 

"What kind of stunt are you geeks trying to pull! Get this dress-up character out of my room!" he shouted.

 

He gasped and fell back on the pillow. They stared at him, reflecting the shock he felt. Even as the words left his lips, he knew that he was speaking most of them in the language that hadn't been spoken anywhere on earth for nearly 2000 years.

 

"What's happening!" he snarled. His voice was weak, and the words were still foreign words. He closed his mouth and tried to clench his fists.

 

Kaiba willed his mind to think, clearly, and in his own language. All his brain would say was "This can't be real." But even in his fevered state, he knew it was real.

 

Jonouchi's face started to fill his vision again, looming before his eyes. He'd come closer, and his deep brown eyes were shining like liquid. Then blue and gold and white surrounded this vision of Jonouchi's eyes. A blue river, a golden sun, and a high wall of white stone appeared behind Jonouchi. A doorway opened in the stone, with endless darkness beyond it. Jonouchi started to shrink back into that dark place.

 

Kaiba reached out for Jonouchi, calling his name, but he was too weak. He fell backward, and then everything faded away completely.

 

***

 

\--to be continued--

 


	6. Tangled in the Light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In earlier posted versions of this story, this chapter contains a sexual incident which has been changed in this version. I realized later that it didn't fit with the way the rest of story needed to go. The hazards of post-as-you-go fanfic.

_And lovers try_

_'Til they get the best of the night_

_And come morning_

_They are tangled up in the light_

_-Steve Winwood, "The Finer Things"_

\---

 

Ryou stood with Honda and Anzu on the sidewalk in front of the Kame Game Shop.

 

"Now, let's see if we've got this straight," Honda said. "We're searching for a man who looks a lot like our Bakura, except his hair's shorter and he's got blue eyes, and he's wearing a red bathrobe, a white skirt, and a lot of gold jewelry. Plus, he might be a dangerous murderer. Right?"

 

"That's about it," Ryou agreed, although he chafed at the "dangerous murderer" part.

 

"Should be no problem, then," Honda said cheerfully.

 

"He'll probably steal some different clothes," Ryou added.

 

They stared at him blankly.

 

"What did you say?" they both asked at the same time.

 

Ryou clapped his hand to his mouth as he suddenly realized that he'd had spoken in Ancient Egyptian. He hadn't even realized he'd been doing it, too. With an embarrassed grin, he translated.

 

Honda turned to Anzu. "If I start talking like that, hit me," he said.

 

"You got it," she replied with a shudder.

 

"Well, where would a thief from the deserts of ancient Egypt try to hide in a city like Domino?" Honda wondered, looking up and down the nearly empty street.

 

Ryou thought about all he knew of ancient Egypt, and of his visits to Cairo and Luxor.

 

"The Pier," he said decisively--in the correct language, this time.

 

Honda looked skeptical, but Anzu nodded. The Pier was Domino's waterfront marketplace and park, filled with market stalls selling everything from fresh maki to electronics. From Yugi's doorstep they could see the tall banners over the waterside park, rippling on a slight breeze.

 

"It's not far, and he could probably steal clothes and food there," Anzu said.

 

"And in a city, the best place to hide is in a crowd," Ryou reasoned.

 

Honda shrugged. "Good point. Let's go!"

 

On the hot afternoon, The Pier was already crowded with shoppers, teenagers, and families searching for a cool spot by the water. Ryou's eye darted to every glimpse of red that he could see, even though he guessed the thief had probably already shed his telltale robe for something that blended in.

 

They split up to search among the crowds, planning to meet back at the park in an hour. Near the end of that time, Ryou began to grow discouraged. He had a strong feeling that Bakura was nearby, but he couldn't find any sign of him. He touched his hand to the Ring hidden under his shirt, but it didn't give him any answers. Just as he started to head back to the park with his shoulders drooping, a loudly complaining woman's voice caught his ear.

 

"Frickkin' shoplifters! It's hardly worth setting up, the way you get ripped off around here," she was saying. He caught sight of the woman and discovered she was the owner of an open-air stall selling imported clothing. She was berating a hassled-looking security guard.

 

Ryou looked with interest at the leather goods that were for sale in the stall: caps and belts, pants and jackets. The woman gestured to a rack of stylish, expensive-looking black leather coats. The guard glanced over at them and nodded.

 

The thought of Bakura wearing one of those long, black leather coats - and little else - made Ryou's brain go fuzzy for a minute. Finally he shook himself and looked around. Bakura had been here, he was certain - but that probably meant he wasn't here anymore. At least now Ryou knew what he was wearing.

 

He nudged his way through the crowd to go meet Honda and Anzu, trying not to think too much about Bakura in black leather.

 

***

 

Jonouchi couldn't get the picture of Kaiba lying there as pale as death out of his mind. It was just so wrong, like the sun turning blue or something. Or like ancient Egyptians falling out of the sky, for that matter.

 

He'd never really realized how full of life Kaiba was, how forceful and vigorous. Well, he'd realized, but he'd never thought of it as something he'd miss the way he did now. The possibility of never again seeing those blue eyes flashing, even in cold anger, made his chest feel tight in a very uncomfortable way.

 

Damn, he thought... when had he come to care about that arrogant bastard so much? But he knew the answer perfectly well. He'd cared for a very long time. Something about Kaiba had always drawn him, even if every approach had resulted in a kick in the head. His pride had been hurt over and over, and he'd sworn to everyone within hearing how much he hated Kaiba, but all he really hated was the rejection. And that only bothered him so much because he cared, damn it.

 

Jonouchi found he'd wandered into a library or study of some kind. He paced in aimless circles, staring down at the intricate design of the expensive carpet without really seeing it.

 

He had an urge to go back and stay by Kaiba's side, for whatever good that would do, but as soon as he thought of it, he gave up that idea. Two reasons: he couldn't do anything to help by being there, and that would make him feel crazy; plus, given the way Kaiba usually acted towards him, his presence would probably just make things worse. And then there was the real reason: it was freaking him out too much to see Kaiba all helpless and weak like that.

 

He wasn't going to waste time wondering why Kaiba had actually called out to him before he'd passed out. Probably just fever. Mokuba had looked at him funny, though, and something he said made it sound like Kaiba had actually mentioned him more than once in his less lucid moments over the past couple of hours.

 

But then, there was that weird bit where Seth actually sat on the edge of Kaiba's bed and listened to him ramble. Jonouchi couldn't make out what Kaiba was saying, his voice was so soft and quiet, but it sounded like more ancient Egyptian. When Mokuba asked Seth what it meant, the priest gave him a sad, eerie smile.

 

"He speaks of my memories," he said. "He dreams the moments of my life. Surely, our souls are connected in some way." He shook his head and refused to say any more about it. Mokuba looked as if he wished he hadn't asked.

 

But if Kaiba had only been muttering about Seth's own memories, it was probably Jumoke he was talking about anyway. Poor Jumoke... everything seemed to revolve around him, and there he was, stuck in the past and dead besides. He didn't even know he was the center of so much attention.

 

Jonouchi suddenly wished Jumoke was here instead of him. Maybe he was better at dealing with arrogant, attractive High Priests and CEO's than Jonouchi was.

 

He paced back and forth in the study, trying to think of something worth doing. He could join the search for the missing thief, he supposed. Seth had agreed to stay at the mansion at Mokuba's insistence. Now that the priest had seen Kaiba for himself, he might not insist on staying right near Jonouchi, so he was free to go off on his own and get away from this place.

 

He glanced out the window. Beyond the trees he could see a glimpse of the city through a haze. Dark clouds had started to roll in over the bay, a sharp contrast to the gleaming city skyline.

 

He turned around, half-decided to go and ask Mokuba to have the driver take him back into town. Seth was standing in the doorway.

 

"What?" he asked, trying to hide his dread. "What happened?"

 

Seth shook his head as he came into the room, closing the door behind him.

 

"Nothing has changed. He slips in and out of the dreams. Each time he awakens he grows weaker."

 

"Damn," Jonouchi muttered under his breath. He rubbed the back of his neck and turned toward the window, away from Seth. He didn't want the Priest to see whatever might be showing on his face.

 

"J'nuchi." Seth was standing right in back of him. He didn't turn around.

 

"What?" he asked wearily. "Listen, I'm sorry I got so angry with you. I know you were just trying to help. This whole day has just freaked me out."

 

While Kaiba lay there muttering in his sleep, Seth had started saying a prayer to the gods of healing, and for some reason, Jonouchi had lost it.

 

"Cut that out! He hates all that magic crap!" he’d found himself yelling. He'd grabbed Seth's raised arms and yanked him away from Kaiba's bed. For a second Seth had looked like he'd been slapped, and Jonouchi thought he was going to get a priestly fist in his face. He would have welcomed that, something solid and painful that he could hit back at.

 

But Seth had only laid a hand on his arm and gently pushed him away. Yugi had grabbed his other arm and led him out of the room.

 

"Maybe you should go take a walk or something, Jonouchi," Yugi had said sympathetically. He patted Jonouchi's shoulder. "We'll figure something out, I promise. Go relax a little."

 

Jonouchi took the hint and left, but he didn’t relax. He'd stalked off and wandered the corridors of the mansion for a while, until he'd ended up here. Now Seth was here too. Just who he did not want to see.

 

"Freaked?" Seth said questioningly, as if to himself. Jonouchi realized he'd spoken in a mishmash of Japanese and Egyptian, mixing words randomly. "Freaked" didn't translate well into the ancient language. His brain was too tired to come up with a variation the Priest would understand.

 

"Never mind," he said. He dropped his arm to his side, with a sigh that was half a stretch. He leaned forward, one arm against the frame of the window, and looked out at the day. The sun still beat down on the yard outside, although the storm clouds were moving closer. He could see heat waves ripple over the city in the distance.

 

Seth was standing right behind him. He could smell the priest's exotic scent, which was starting to become familiar. Names of oils and herbs that made up that scent came into his mind like the words in the other language. He ignored the invading thoughts and tried to clear his head of everything.

 

Seth's hand touched his hair. It took him a few seconds to realize that's what it was. Shock battled with a strange sense of familiarity as the fingers lifted his locks to trail through them.

 

"Golden honey of the sun," Seth said quietly. "How I've missed the feel of it against my hand..."

 

Jonouchi got his wish for an end to his swirling thoughts as his mind froze. His body responded differently. A warm tingle spread down from his head right to his feet, pooling in a few places along the way.

 

"Jonouchi," Seth said.

 

"Whoa," Jonouchi told himself as Seth came closer, pressing lightly against his back. In a second, he knew, those arms were going to come around him from behind, and hands just like Seto Kaiba's were going to clasp in front of his chest, pressed against his heart to feel it beating. It was like a dream he'd had and never remembered until now. And like in a dream, he couldn't move away. But then, he found that he didn't really want to.

 

Seth embraced him. When he pressed his face against Jonouchi's neck, Jonouchi realized he'd removed his headgear and heavy gold neckpiece, as well as the elaborate bracelet that functioned like a duel disc. His body was warm and solid against Jonouchi's back, all the way down.

 

"I want to feel your touch on my skin again, Jonouchi," Seth whispered. The words were Egyptian, but the voice was Kaiba's, soft but commanding. "How I've longed for you."

 

"You ... you want me?" Jonouchi managed to say. He couldn’t quite imagine Seto Kaiba ever saying those words to him, but boy, did he ever want to hear that.

 

The realization of that hit him like a bolt of lightning.

 

Seth answered by opening his clasped hands and laying them flat against Jonouchi's chest, one over his heart, and the other sliding down lower. Seth's fingers found their way inside his shirt. When they touched his skin, Jonouchi hissed and pressed his body back against Seth's. It felt like the most natural thing in the world.

 

But it wasn’t. Only in someone else’s world, Jumoke’s world, could this ever happen to him. Even as his body responded, even as he pressed those strangely familiar hands to his skin and reveled in their warmth, he knew this could not be true. It was some kind of dream, as crazy as Kaiba’s rambling dilerium. Even when he turned within the circle of familiar arms and gazed into beloved blue eyes, tasted the remembered spice and heat of a well-practiced kiss, Jonouchi knew this was not real. This was not Seto Kaiba who held him with such tender possession, and it was not him, Jonouchi Katsuya, reflected so lovingly in those ancient blue eyes.

 

His body knew what to do. Seth’s hands claimed him, touching places no one else had ever touched, and yet it was all familiar, as if it had happened every day for years. Seth's body, draped in the thin blue tunic-like robe with more white fabric underneath, seemed tantalizing close, yet out of reach. After turning Jonouchi to face him, he’d stepped back, away from the broad daylight of the window, into the shadows of the room. Now he opened his arms at his sides, beckoning welcome, and Jonouchi stepped closer.

 

“No,” he said, even as he let Seth pull him in again. Even as arousal ached inside him like a lost limb, Jonouchi shook his head.

 

Twisting out of reach of Seto’s—no, Seth’s kiss was as hard as moving through quicksand, as painful as having the life sucked out of his heart by a Shadow Game. The movement felt foreign and yet, also sadly familiar, tinged with a sharper kind of pain in his heart.

 

Everything went still except for the rush of heated blood pounding in his own ears, and Seth’s quick intake of breath and then his slow, soft sigh.

 

“If only I could hold you, my Jumoke, one last time,” he said.

 

Jonouchi knew Seth wasn’t speaking to him, that time. The longing in the words hit him like a fist to the gut. Somehow, he found himself back inside the strong circle of Seth’s arms again after all, and sinking to the floor with him, leaning in to him, falling at last into the dream of desert light on white sand, hot wind in night, blue eyes lit with desire, the sweet rush of memory and dream pulling him under like the sweet waters of the Nile.

 

The rushing sound in his ears continued, as he lay there on the soft carpet, feeling the warmth of the body beside him, the heavy arms around him. The light had grown dim and strange shadows moved on the walls. He raised his gaze to the window and saw that it had become a waterfall. The storm had broken; that sound in his ears was rain beating on the mansion's roof. Jonouchi closed his eyes and drifted away on the sound of falling water.

 

***

Ryou found Anzu and Honda at the coffee stand where they'd agreed to meet. The weather was changing. The breeze off the water came in gusts, blowing dust and food wrappers off the ground into their faces. The heat felt even more oppressive, humid and heavy, even though the bright sun had now been overtaken by dark towers of clouds. Ryou told them about the theft at the clothing stall.

 

"So, now he looks sort of like you wearing sexy black leather?" Honda smirked. Anzu dug her elbow into his ribs while Ryou blushed crimson.

 

They decided to spread the search out into the areas around The Pier. Honda took the docks to the south, while Anzu and Ryou prowled the shopping and residential area to the north. Neither of them mentioned needles in haystacks, but Ryou knew that's what both of them were thinking.

 

After less than an hour of trudging and searching, rain started to pelt down in large, heavy drops. The streets emptied as the storm rolled in over the city.

 

Ryou stood huddled under the edge of an awning, his wet hair dripping into his eyes.

 

"This is pointless," Anzu said, hugging herself and shivering. "We'll never find him in this. We'll have to get the rest of the gang to help and try again later, after this rain lets up."

 

Ryou touched the Ring through his shirt. He thought he felt a slight vibration in it, but it could have been his imagination, or the way the rain was starting to pound on the ground. It didn't look like stopping any time soon.

 

He sighed. Reluctantly, he agreed to Anzu's suggestion that they head home. She would call Yugi and find out what happened with Kaiba, and then call him with a report.

 

A few minutes later, Ryou arrived at his apartment complex. He was drenched to the bone and starting to shiver. Even so, he couldn't help craning his neck to look around every corner, hoping to see a glimpse of white hair and tan skin and shadowy blue eyes, or to hear a Voice coming out of the shadows. There was nothing but the rain.

 

He opened the door to his flat and stepped inside. Before he could close the door, his wrist was grabbed in a strong grip, and before he could shout, a large warm hand covered his mouth. The scent of exotic oils and fresh leather enveloped him. Those strong hands shoved him inside and slammed the door shut behind him.

 

His heart flipped over once again as he realized the thief he'd been searching for had found him.

 

***

 

(to be continued... )


	7. The Finer Things

_The finer things keep shining through_

_The way my soul gets lost in you_

_The finer things I feel in me_

_The golden dance life could be_

 

\-- _The Finer Things_ , by Steve Winwood

 

***

 

 

In a dream, Jonouchi was playing a game with Yugi. The sun was hot on the back of his neck as he bent over a low table, looking at the little game pieces arranged on a brightly painted board. Yugi was trying to teach him the game, but Jonouchi couldn't figure it out. He kept asking Yugi "What are we doing? How does this game work?" But Yugi only gestured with his hands, saying nothing. He moved pieces around the board and gave Jonouchi a look that seemed to say, "See? Isn't it obvious?"

 

He realized that the game pieces were carved human figures, painted to look like different sorts of people - farmers with hoes, soldiers carrying swords and bows, and nobles with gold armbands and collars. They moved on their own when Yugi wanted them to, responding to his unspoken directions, but Jonouchi couldn't get his pieces to do anything.

 

A word came into his head: ushebti - the carved servants given to a deceased pharaoh to do all the work for him in the afterworld. Then Jonouchi noticed one game piece that was bigger than the rest, and painted gold.

 

"Is that supposed to be the Pharaoh?" he asked Yugi. Yugi nodded emphatically, looking relieved, as if finally Jonouchi had gotten something right.

 

Grinning, Jonouchi studied the game board more carefully. Some of the pieces were starting to look vaguely familiar, for some reason. Then he noticed another golden piece hidden behind the big one - a goofy little short figure with a spikey head.

 

Suddenly Jonouchi remembered what all this reminded him of: that crazy Shadow Game the evil Bakura had played with them, where he'd sealed all their spirits into little dolls -- or was it cards? Or was that even real? He remembered Bakura using that Millennium Ring on them, but how could he have done that? The Ring wasn't Bakura's, Jonouchi thought. It was his. He reached to feel it hanging around his neck where it should be.

 

"Hang on," he mumbled. "That's not right, either. I'm not Jumoke! Why am I wearing this thing? I don't want it!"

 

As he stared at it, wondering how it got there, it started to glow.

 

"Yikes! Do you see that, Yugi?"

 

He glanced across the table. Yugi sat staring at the game figures, mouth slack and eyes gone blank as if he was entranced. Jonouchi felt a sudden chill as a shadow fell over the table, blocking the warmth of the sun. The figure of the Pharaoh lost its golden gleam and became as dull as a lump of sand. A feeling of dread crept up his spine as he watched it crack and crumble into a mound of dust.

 

Yugi looked up and stared past him, with the reflected gleam of the Ring in his glittering amethyst eyes. Jonouchi was frozen to the spot. He couldn't turn around to see what was coming up behind him, but he saw Yugi's eyes suddenly grow wide with horror.

 

Jonouchi sat up suddenly, gasping for breath. He was drenched in cold sweat and shivering, but it took a couple of seconds before he remembered to take a breath. It was just a dream... a weird, creepy dream. But when had he fallen asleep, anyway?

 

Only then did he remember the even weirder reality. He was sitting on the fancy carpet in a room in Kaiba's mansion, half naked, where he’d just curled up for an afternoon nap with an Ancient Egyptian Priest. The same Priest was beside him, pushing himself up onto his elbows, looking up at Jonouchi with an expression of concern. A half-naked Priest with Seto Kaiba's eyes. The tattered images from the dream dissipated like mist. Jonouchi found himself wondering if Kaiba looked like that under his clothes and briefly felt an almost desperate desire to know if he did. He shook his head so hard he thought he heard his brains rattle.

 

"What just happened?" he asked. “Was that all a dream or…?” Because he halfway remembered doing things with Seth that he was pretty sure he hadn’t done yet in his life with anyone, but it sure felt real, and here they were, lying here on the floor with a lot of skin showing between the two of them. But they didn’t actually… did they? “Did we…?”

 

Seth looked sorrowful. "No. And yet, in a way…."

 

Jonouchi let out a great big breath of relief, but at the same time he hung his head, stabbed with a weird pang of guilt over the pain that was pretty obvious on the priest’s face. He couldn't quite be angry with Seth after all, or with himself for almost letting it happen. He'd hardly known what he was doing, but he didn’t feel the regret or alarm he thought he should be feeling. In fact, Seth looked more worried about it than Jonouchi felt.

 

"I am sorry once again, J'nuchi," he said in a whisper. "My desire for you was real, yet in my heart, I was thinking of Jumoke."

 

"I know," Jonouchi said quietly. "I got that. It's okay." He stared out the window at the steady stream of water from the sky. "I was thinking of someone else, too."

 

****

 

Finding himself pinned back against Bakura's body, Ryou went from shivering cold to as hot as a hibachi in seconds. His heart pounded rapidly, beating so hard he knew Bakura could feel it against the leather-clad arm that was squeezing Ryou's chest; he could probably hear it over the pounding of the rain outside.

 

He was afraid, of course, but it wasn't only fear that made his heart race. It was the strength in that arm, and the firm, softly calloused hand over his mouth, and the hard muscles of the chest pressed against his back, and it was the hot breath on his hair as the thief held him close and silent and immobile against him. If his heart didn't give out, he could have stayed like that forever.

 

"Well, Pretty One, are you happy to see me again?" Bakura said in his low voice at Ryou's ear.

 

Ryou could only make a little squeak of surprise. He couldn't exactly "see" Bakura, after all, since the thief had hold of him from behind; but he felt him, all right. Felt his solid body pressed against his back, all the way from where his chin rested against Ryou's wet hair to where his hard thighs pressed against the backs of Ryou's legs. Happy wasn't exactly the right word to describe how that was making him feel, but it was close.

 

Bakura practically lifted him off his feet to push him along the short hallway, and then he paused at the entrance to the main room. Ryou sensed that he was listening and watching for signs of other life in the apartment. From here, he could catch a glimpse into most of the rooms beyond. Of course, there was no one else in the place. Ryou was simultaneously thankful and fearful of the fact that he lived alone, as Bakura would soon discover he did.

 

"You won't yell, will you? That would not be wise, Pretty One. I know you left your friends behind. Is there anyone nearby who would hear you and come to your aid?"

 

Ryou managed to shake his head "no" to both questions.

 

"And where is Seth and his guardian Jonouchi?" Bakura asked. His voice became a hiss when he said Seth's name. "Is the mad priest also searching for me, to try to kill me again?"

 

Ryou shook his head again, this time sharply, trying to emphasize that Seth was not after Bakura at all.

 

"Very well. Then we can relax for a moment," Bakura said.

 

Ryou knew it was probably just his imagination that made those words sound like some kind of intimate invitation. Bakura's hand dropped from his face to encircle his neck. While both arms embraced him firmly, making it clear he was still a captive, graceful fingers lightly caressed the pulse point in his throat. Maybe it wasn't his imagination after all, he thought - or was that a threat rather than a promise? Whatever it really was, he couldn't help letting a small sigh of pleasure escape him at the touch.

 

Bakura laughed softly. Ryou could feel the vibration of that laughter against his back.

 

Now that his mouth was free he felt he had to say something. Somehow, the first thing that came to his mind, which was basically "take me, I'm yours," didn't seem like the wisest words to utter under the circumstances. So he said the second thing instead.

 

"Are you alright?" he asked. "Did Seth hurt you?"

 

Bakura grunted, apparently surprised by the question.

 

"Concerned for my safety, Pretty One? Is that why you and your two friends spent the afternoon searching for me in the marketplace?"

 

"You knew?"

 

"Of course."

 

"Why didn't you... " Ryou began, but he didn't bother to finish the question. Of course, Bakura wouldn't come near any of them until he knew that it was safe and that Seth was not nearby.

 

"Seth went with my friends to visit Kaiba. His home is on the other side of the city. There's no reason any of them would come here," he said quickly. He hoped that was true; someone might guess that Bakura would seek him out, but with any luck (good or bad) they were too busy to think of that yet.

 

"Kaiba...." Bakura said. "Who is that?"

 

"He is... he seems to be the Double of Priest Seth in this time. He fell ill when you both arrived here. They went to see if they can figure out why all of this is happening."

 

Ryou was a little surprised he could think clearly enough to say all of this, with Bakura still holding him pressed against his chest the way he was. He had a feeling that if he could actually *see* Bakura, his brain would stop functioning all together.

 

However, Bakura seemed to be distracted for a moment by the information Ryou had just given him. That gave Ryou's mind time to start spewing forth the dozen or so other questions he wanted to ask. *Why are you here? Did you kill Jumoke? Were you and Seth really lovers before?* For some reason he didn't really want to hear the answer to that last question. But there were plenty of others he could ask instead.

 

Before he could pick one of them to begin with, Bakura's hands moved down to his shoulders and turned him around to stand face to face. As Ryou had expected, his brain pretty much stopped working at that point.

 

Bakura had indeed stolen one of the long leather coats, and it fit him very nicely, emphasizing his broad shoulders and narrow waist. It also went well with the leather pants he'd apparently stolen at the same time. Very well indeed, Ryou thought with a catch in his breath.

 

As Ryou had guessed he would, Bakura had adapted quickly to modern dress standards, having observed that most men didn't wear skirts and jewelry in this time and place. He'd removed most of his jewelry, including the complicated bracelet that seemed to be an ancient Duel Disc. His chest was still bare under the leather coat, however, and he'd turned his red coat into a sort of bag that was slung over his shoulder. No doubt this held his gold rings and bracelets, his linen kilt, and of course, the Ring.

 

Ryou's mind skittered over the thought of the two Rings and he felt a pang of concern for the silent Spirit of the Ring. That was what he most wanted to know about. How was this thief from the past related to his own dark spirit?

 

But then he was distracted by the way Bakura was staring down at him with his shadow-blue eyes. Actually, it was the way Bakura was starting to stare at his mouth that made his brain stutter to silence and his heart speed up another notch.

 

Then Bakura lowered his gaze to look down at Ryou's hands, which had somehow come to rest against his broad chest. Ryou looked at them as well, surprised to find them there. He couldn't seem to move them away.

 

Bakura placed one of his long-fingered hands over them and smiled. His other hand came up to Ryou's face, his knuckle caressing Ryou's burning cheek.

 

"Do you like what you see, Pretty One?" he asked, sounding amused.

 

But there was more than humor smoldering in Bakura's eyes as he bent down to press his lips against Ryou's slightly open mouth.

 

Everything he'd ever wondered about himself and his desires, everything anyone else had ever said about him and his rumored inclinations, and everything he'd felt in his body since his first glimpse of the thief on Yugi's doorstep, were all confirmed by that kiss. This was what he wanted. No doubt about it anymore.

 

But it wasn't all he wanted. Once he'd crossed this line, the idea of everything that might follow came into his head like a flash of inspiration. His spread his fingers against Bakura's chest, reveling in the feel of his skin, the ripple of his muscles, the beat of his heart. As the thief's tongue tangled with his, he fell against the solid body, this time by his own choice. Bakura murmured in satisfaction and put his arms around Ryou again, drawing him in.

 

Ryou let his hands press lower. Bakura made another sound, like a knowing laugh low in his throat, as Ryou's fingers slid daringly into the tight waistband of the leather pants.

 

"You do know what you want, don't you, Pretty One?" Bakura said.

 

Ryou certainly did know. He'd never done any of this before, but he'd thought of it often enough. He didn't really need Bakura's hand guiding his head to nuzzle the thief's jaw and neck, to taste the salty, musky skin inside the collar of the leather coat. He didn't really need Bakura's hand guiding his own still lower to cup the solid handful of his erection that pressed eagerly through the leather pants.

 

"Do you have a bed? Or have the people of this world devised some other method of indulging in pleasure?" Bakura asked.

 

"Bed?" Ryou said, his voice almost a squeak of surprise again. "Oh, yes, of course we have beds. I have a bed. It's in the bedroom."

 

He babbled on for a few seconds before he could actually get his feet moving. Not taking his hands off Bakura, he led him across the main room to another hallway, and then to the open door of his bedroom. Bakura glanced inside, spotted the bed with its thick comforter and pillows, and smiled.

 

"You live in great comfort in this world of yours," he said with appreciation. "I would think you must be the son of a prince or nobleman, but it appears that many people have these luxuries."

 

"Um, yes, I suppose so," Ryou murmured, not really interested in comparative cultural analysis at the moment.

 

Bakura laughed at his confusion. With a swift movement he lifted Ryou off his feet, carried him across the room in two broad strides of his long legs, and dove onto the bed with Ryou beneath him.

 

Ryou made an instinctive but useless effort to scramble up. It wasn't only useless because Bakura's weight and his strong hands held him down, though. Ryou knew he didn't really want to get up. Especially when Bakura's hand fell firmly onto his crotch.

 

"Gah-yeesss!" Ryou gasped, and involuntarily threw his head back. Bakura took advantage of the opportunity to fasten his lips on Ryou's exposed neck, flicking his tongue over the pulse throbbing there. It wasn't the only thing that was throbbing, as Bakura's hand pressed knowingly against Ryou's swelling erection through denim that had become uncomfortably tight.

 

The thief was indeed clever and highly adaptable, as he demonstrated by swiftly undoing the buttons and zipper of Ryou's jeans and pulling them off, along with shoes and socks and underwear. Ryou hardly had time to move before he found himself lying back on the bed with Bakura once again holding him down. The thief's hands were on his shoulders, knees pressed against his naked thighs. Ryou had nothing left on but his shirt, which somehow made him feel more exposed than if he'd just been naked.

 

Bakura looked down at him, smiling as he let his gaze wander over Ryou.

 

"I like what I see, Pretty One," he said, his voice thick with lust. He held Ryou down with one hand on his shoulder, not that Ryou was making any effort to go anywhere. The other hand lazily stroked Ryou's dancing erection. Ryou panted helplessly. His hands ran up along Bakura's tightly muscled arms to his neck, where his fingers played with the uneven strands of sun-bleached hair.

 

Ryou was beyond speech and nearly beyond thought. Did Bakura have any idea how long he'd wanted this? For what seemed like a very long time now, he'd dreamed of being touched like this - dreamed of the Spirit of the Ring touching his body as he had invaded his mind. Did the Spirit know of his desire? He wasn't sure, since he kept it buried in the far corners of his mind and heart. But maybe the desire in this Bakura's eyes and touch was an echo of his own. He couldn't dare hope the Spirit of the Ring would want him like this.

 

Ryou's hands found their way down Bakura's chest and stomach to the top of those leather pants again. While he tried to figure out how to get his hands inside them, Bakura sat back and drew off his leather coat. Ryou sighed, running his hands back up over muscled chest and shoulders. Then he returned to the problem of the thief's leather pants.

 

Bakura pushed his fumbling fingers away with a growl, and swiftly removed them himself.

 

"Oh...." Ryou said. He couldn't take his eyes of Bakura's body. It was like something he'd dreamed about. It was perfect. He didn't bother to try to hide his admiration.

 

Bakura knelt over him, his erection bobbing heavily above Ryou's stomach, the muscles of his arms and legs rippling. He slid his hands up under Ryou's shirt and pulled it off of him. All that was left between them was the Millennium Ring.

 

Bakura scowled at the Ring as if it was a snake that might strike him. Gingerly he reached for it. As soon as his fingers touched the gold surface, he hissed and winced. Ryou felt as well as saw a brief flash. Startled, he grabbed the Ring, looking quickly from it to the thief and back again. Nothing else happened for a few seconds.

 

Or did it? Was there a different gleam in Bakura's eyes, a flash of red in the depth of the shadows there? Did his expression change for a moment? Did he speak aloud, or was it only in Ryou's mind that he heard someone say "mine" like a sigh and a hiss of laughter?

 

With a snarl, Bakura wrapped his fist around the cord and yanked. Before Ryou could react the Ring had been torn from him. Bakura held it dangling in the air, his face a grimace of pain and fear as he stared at it for a second. Then he fixed his blue-eyed gaze on Ryou again. He let go of the cord, and the Ring landed heavily on the bed next to Ryou. He could feel its familiar cold touch against his ribs as Bakura pressed down onto him.

 

He felt like an open circuit, as if some kind of electric current rushed through him, causing sparks of heat wherever Bakura touched him. Moans gathered in his throat and forced their way out of his mouth as his body rose, seeking more contact. Bakura's hardness pressed against his, making him throb with need. He spread his legs wider and wrapped them around Bakura as another, louder moan escaped him.

 

Bakura's mouth was on his skin, hot and wet on his neck and face and chest. His weight pressed Ryou down against the tangled sheets. Bakura slid his hands underneath Ryou and squeezed his ass, pulling him up to increase the pressure of his thrusts. Ryou wrapped his fingers in Bakura's wild tangle of hair and held on as if for dear life. His cries became sharper as the pressure built in his groin, as if something was trying to break free inside him.

 

Bakura's hands scrambled over him, as if trying to find something they couldn't quite get hold of. Ryou knew vaguely what they were seeking, what Bakura wanted to do, and he would have wanted it too, mindlessly desiring Bakura's full weight on him and inside of him. But their need was too great and too sudden. The friction and heat and the sliding weight of Bakura's body on his took him to the edge. He heard Bakura groan, mouth pressed against his hair, and he knew it was too late to do any more.

 

His hips jerked convulsively, making Bakura moan again. He yelled out loud as he came. For a few seconds all of his awareness was focused on the sensation of Bakura's cock pulsing alongside his own, and the warm, slick pool that spread between their bodies.

 

As the final waves shuddered through him, Ryou's muscles trembled, but he couldn't release the grip of his arms and legs around Bakura's body. They were as close as they could be without one being inside of the other. Bakura's weight threatened to take the air from his lungs and stop his heart, but he didn't want to let go yet.

 

With a ragged sigh, Bakura slid off to the side. Although Ryou tried to stay wrapped around the thief's body, he found himself gathered into those strong arms again and laid on his side instead. Once again he was pulled back against that broad chest. He could feel the strong pounding of Bakura's heart as it slowed to normal.

 

Bakura's hand cupped his sensitive but diminishing cock with a warm and possessive touch. Ryou sighed. His throat was raw from yelling. He wrapped his hands around the arms that held him and let his head rest on Bakura's shoulder, as a perfect wave of exhaustion swept him under.

 

***

 

The strength of his desire for the pretty one took the prince of thieves by surprise. Ever since he'd first seen him, and especially since they first touched when he captured the boy in the doorway to his home, he'd wanted him as he never remembered wanting anyone. Even the cursed Priest who had captured his heart had not gripped him with a sense of need like this.

 

He held the boy close after they both spent themselves, breathing in his sweet, clean scent. His skin was a delight to touch, as fine and smooth as polished white stone, as delicate and pale as eggshell. His hair, even wet from the rain, felt as soft as mist against his cheek. But for all his delicate beauty, there seemed to be some fiery strength inside him, as if it was his _ka_ , his soul, that drew Bakura to him so irresistibly.

 

When he'd sensed the desire in the body that he held captive, and then saw the longing in the boy's doe-like eyes, he knew they had to have each other. He'd quickly determined that the place they were in was unoccupied. He could always tell; it was one of the gifts he'd developed as a thief. He was glad, because he didn't think he could have held back once he had the pretty one in his arms even if the Pharaoh's army had been camped out in the next room.

 

The boy had drifted away now, overcome by the strength of his release. Bakura gazed down at him, frowning slightly. He thought about Seth, and the one named Kaiba the boy had mentioned. He was not surprised that this Kaiba was the Double of the Priest, not after seeing Doubles of Jumoke and Akiiki in this time and place.

 

And, it seemed, this boy was his own Double. Had he ever looked so delicate? If he had, it was only in countless years past, before the desert sun and the life of a thief had hardened him. Perhaps far back in his unremembered youth he had eggshell skin and a soft cloud of hair.

 

All of that time was long forgotten, though. He had no memories of being young at all, and little but the blur of sand and wind, of raids and hiding among the tumbled stones of forgotten tombs, until he went one day to steal from a rich but isolated shrine on an island in the northern arms of the river. On that day he was surprised by a young Priest with amazing blue eyes that still haunted his dreams with longing.

 

Holding this one in his arms as he dozed, Bakura felt his desire for Seth grow quiet for the first time since he could remember. Already he wanted to make love to this boy again, more slowly this time, taking him completely as he'd been too surprised by need to do so the first time. He had no doubt the pretty one wanted him in the same way.

 

He kissed the delicate tip of the boy's ear, taken by a wave of tenderness that was like nothing he'd ever felt, and yet it was strangely familiar. He'd never known this boy before today, so why did the desire to hold him so close seem like an old ache in his heart?

 

The sweet one stirred and his eyes fluttered open. There was a searching look in his eyes before a smile filled his soft face. He pressed himself gently against Bakura's body, warm and softly solid. Bakura closed his eyes and kept his arms wrapped tightly around the slim body. Jumoke and his accursed Ring and the insanity of Seth could wait indefinitely, as far as he was concerned. For the moment, there was no other place he desired to be.

 

***

Ryou returned slowly from his sweet oblivion. He opened his eyes to find Bakura watching him. He smiled, and Bakura's brow twitched, as if he was trying not to smile back.

 

"That was wonderful," Ryou sighed, snuggling closer to the thief. He knew it sounded corny and he didn't care.

 

"It was your first time, wasn't it, pretty one?" Bakura said, sounding amused.

 

"Yes," Ryou answered honestly. He flushed crimson. "Well, the first time with another person."

 

He heard the nearly silent rumble of Bakura's laughter in his chest. "Hathor has gifted you with a natural skill for pleasure."

 

Ryou blushed again as he took this for the compliment it was meant to be. At the same time, he felt a strange thrill to realize he was with someone who took a goddess like Hathor for granted. It flashed into his mind that his father would dearly love to meet Bakura and Seth so he could ask them a lifetime's worth of questions about the world they lived in.

 

He shook the thought of his father out of his head, thanking whatever gods there were that he was far away in Egypt at the moment. He had plenty of questions of his own for Bakura, if he could just get his mind working again to think of them.

 

But Bakura was running fingers through his hair, and down his neck and his arm. He held Ryou close and nuzzled his neck, making Ryou's pulse race again while his thoughts slowed to a crawl. Bakura breathed in deeply, and then Ryou shivered with delight as he felt the thief's warm breath on his skin.

 

"You smell very pleasant, Pretty One," Bakura said. "Clean and sweet, as if you just stepped from the fresh springs of the desert oasis."

 

"Not that I mind you calling me that, but my name is Ryou, if you would care to use it," he said politely.

 

"Ryou, then," Bakura said, although it came out of his mouth in a funny way. "Your scent is just as sweet, whatever you have me call you." He buried his face in Ryou's hair.

 

Ryou had to chuckle. The thief smelled rather stronger, of sweat and dirt and stale scented oils, and now of sex as well. Under the circumstances, Ryou found his scent intoxicating, but he knew that by modern standards, he was disgusting. Truth to tell, Seth hadn't been much better, only with more scented oil and less dirt.

 

"We bathe quite often in this country," Ryou said, feeling lightheaded. "Everyone has a bath in their house, even the commonest folk, and fresh water is not scarce. A nice, hot bath is just the thing for a chilly, rainy day. I could give you a bath, if you like...."

 

Bakura raised his head. There was a gleam in his eye that drove all of the questions out of Ryou's mind.

 

***

 

(to be continued... )

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ah yes. Originally written 3/28/2005 as a present to myself. My most beloved OTP. Or OT3 depending on how you count.


	8. Into the Dream

_While there is time_

_Let's go out and feel everything_

_If you hold me,_

_I will let you into my dream..._

\- Steve Winwood, "The Finer Things"

 

***

 

Ryou took his baths very seriously. A daily shower was a common necessity, but a bath was a luxury, a tradition, practically a ritual that nothing could be allowed to interrupt. So when he left the bedroom with Bakura, he went over to lock the door and unplug the phone just as he normally did in preparation for his own bath.

 

He did all of this out of habit, but the situation was anything but normal. For one thing, even when he was alone, Ryou was too shy to walk around in his apartment completely naked, and doing so made him feel reckless and sexy. If that wasn't enough, he had the bemused eyes of the thief upon him the entire time. By the time he led Bakura to the door at the far end of the hall past his bedroom, he was already feeling a new flush of arousal.

 

Bakura sauntered in to the bath, obviously as comfortable in his bare skin as Ryou was self-conscious in his. He glanced around quickly at the large wooden tub, the shower stall nearby, and the vanity crowded with bottles and brushes. Ryou wondered what he would make of the brass fixtures in the bath, or whether he would expect servants to appear and pour water over them as he'd seen in pictures of life in ancient Egypt. But Bakura maintained his air of mild curiosity, until he was startled by a sudden glimpse of his full reflection in the large mirror behind the vanity.

 

Ryou glanced that way as well, and a strange feeling came over him as he saw himself standing next to his near-double. It was something like the way he felt when the Spirit of the Ring took over his body, but instead of retreating into some place deep inside his own mind, it was as if he was outside his body looking back at himself. He looked young and pale, fragile, almost ghostly to his own eyes - frighteningly unfamiliar.

 

Ryou blinked and the feeling passed. The thief's expression changed, too. His face had closed down for a second and become expressionless, but then he focused his eyes on Ryou again and smiled.

 

"Well, pretty one, where is the water for our bath?" He peered past Ryou at the empty tub. "Or do you have some other magic that you use to bathe with? I've seen many wonders in this world of yours already! In the marketplace, I heard music and bodiless voices come out of small metal boxes, saw pictures that move and speak, and lights that burn without oil or fire. I even saw people eating strange foods that had been seared without flame! So I would hardly be surprised to find that you bathe without water."

 

Ryou laughed. "Well, none of that is magic, and this isn't either, although it's nearly as wonderful as magic," he said. He turned on the water and the tub began to fill. Watching over his shoulder, Bakura looked mildly impressed to see the steaming water pouring from the tap.

 

Ryou adjusted the temperature to a few degrees cooler than he usually liked his own bath, or Bakura might think he was being cooked rather than bathed. Besides, Ryou was already lightheaded just from Bakura's mere presence, standing so close they brushed against each other easily. It would be just too embarrassing if he passed out from the heat!

 

While the tub was filling, he took Bakura's hand and led him to the shower area. The thief seemed to recognize it as such, and after a glance at the fixtures in the tub, he reached out and turned one of the knobs. He hardly jumped when a spray of water hit him full in the face.

 

Ryou laughed at his grimace; he'd happened to pick the cold water tap. A cold shower was not what Ryou had in mind, however. He adjusted the temperature to be comfortably warm, and then stepped in close and let the soft spray wash over both of them together.

 

Bakura reached up to touch Ryou's face, letting his thumb brush away the wet hair that had fallen over his eyes. Ryou simply gazed up at him for a few heartbeats, before Bakura leaned in and took his mouth in a wet, hungry kiss.

 

"You taste as sweet as your scent," Bakura murmured against his cheek a few blood-rushing moments later.

 

Ryou could have just stood there for hours, soaking in warm water, pressed against the solid, wet warmth of Bakura's body. But a little presence of mind remained, after all. He took a deep breath, vowing to remember the exotic scent of the thief as he was, then reached down to pick up a cloth and soap from the shelf beside the shower.

 

Bakura grinned as Ryou began to wash him. Feeling both shy and bold, Ryou smiled back at him while he washed Bakura's face and neck with the soapy cloth. The thief closed his eyes and stood there patiently, with his hands resting on Ryou's shoulders and a little smile on his lips.

 

While his hands were occupied, Ryou started to remember the questions rolling around in his mind. Something about the thief's presence nagged at him, making him wonder how he and Seth could be here, and why. There had to be some reason. The Spirit had warned of danger, and he probably hadn't meant the danger of Ryou losing his virginity to a past incarnation of himself....

 

Ryou blinked and gave his head a little shake, letting that thought implode under the weight of its own strangeness. There were some more practical things to wonder about before it came to that, if it did. Besides, thinking a little would keep his mind from getting too caught up in the thief's body to finish washing him.

 

When he was done washing Bakura's face and neck, Ryou set the cloth aside and picked up some lightly almond-scented shampoo. He coaxed Bakura to turn around, and only briefly paused to appreciate the gleaming, muscular back presented to his view before he plunged his fingers into Bakura's wet, sun-bleached hair.

 

"What happened?" he asked softly.

 

Bakura half turned and quirked an eyebrow at him.

 

"With Jumoke, I mean," Ryou said, continuing to lather Bakura's hair.

 

It was an odd thing; Ryou knew the Spirit of the Ring was ruthless, and strongly suspected he was capable of murder. He'd hurt Ryou on several occasions, but he'd also protected him too, most recently from Yugi's God Card and then after Marik's evil side defeated him in a horrible Shadow Game. Maybe that was why he believed this Bakura was telling the truth when he said he didn't kill Jumoke.

 

"You didn't kill him, did you?" he said quietly.

 

Bakura frowned and stared at the wall in front of him with narrowed eyes.

 

"Great Priest Seth believes I did," he growled. "Why else would he try to put a knife in my heart?"

 

"He felt terrible about it after you left," Ryou said. "He didn't want to believe that you did it. He said he just went out of his mind for a moment, but he still didn't really think you killed anyone."

 

Bakura grunted and turned away. "He was always a fool."

 

"He said you used to be lovers," Ryou went on, sounding more casual about it than he felt. "He said part of his heart still belongs to you."

 

Bakura said nothing for a moment. Ryou couldn't see his face, and didn't try to look at it. Finally Bakura gave a short, barking laugh.

 

"The stubborn fool," he growled. "In truth, Seth cares for nothing but his priestly ambition. He is besotted with the promise of power and wealth in Pharaoh's court, and he is blind and deaf to anything but the praise of his beloved mentor, Pharaoh Akunadin."

 

Ryou didn't know why he'd hoped it wasn't true that Bakura and Seth had loved each other, and that they still might have those feelings, but he could tell from the bitterness in Bakura's words that it was true. He didn't know why it should bother him. It was none of his concern, really. But then, if it wasn't, why had they suddenly appeared in his life?

 

"What happened?" he asked again. "I mean, why did Jumoke give you the Ring? What did he say?"

 

Bakura twitched in irritation at the question. Ryou continued to massage his hair and began to rinse it. It would need another wash to get all the grit and oil out of it, he realized. He glanced over Bakura's shoulder to see his face. The thief had closed his eyes as the water streamed over his head, and he still frowned, not as if he was angry but as if he was thinking hard about something that bothered him.

 

"Jumoke said there was a danger to Seth, and to all of Egypt. He said some great evil force sought the secret power of the Royal Items, and would use them against the Priests. I didn't know what he was babbling about. He voice didn't sound as frightened as his words; instead, he seemed furious that someone would do such a thing. His concern for the power of the Pharaoh and his priests did not concern me. Nor did his fear for Seth," he added quickly.

 

Ryou was certain that last statement wasn't true, but he said nothing. He added another palmful of shampoo to Bakura's hair and began massaging it into his scalp. After a moment Bakura went on.

 

"He shoved the Ring into my hands." He turned to glance at Ryou and smiled, his eyes glinting. "How could I refuse such a treasure, worthy of a Pharaoh's tomb? But," he continued, his smile fading, "I didn't want to touch it. I know the Items are amulets used by the Priests to call forth spirits drawn from the ka of other men. No one knows where they came from or who made them, not even the Pharaoh's priests, and maybe not even the Pharaoh himself. I would have stolen such a thing from a dead Pharaoh's tomb just for the gold. - I'm not afraid of the spirits of the dead! But this thing felt evil when I touched it. I've never felt anything like it." His eyes narrowed. "No," he added softly. "I felt the same dread when Seth became keeper of the Rod."

 

"But you kept the Ring?" Ryou prompted.

 

"I had no choice. Jumoke pressed it into my hands and left me with it. I stared at the Ring, wondering why I should dread to touch it. When I looked up a heartbeat later he was leaving the courtyard where he'd called me to meet him. The boy, Akiiki, had been playing nearby. Jumoke picked him up and ran from my sight with the smaller one riding on his back."

 

"Akiiki? The one who looks like Yugi?" Ryou asked curiously.

 

"That one. Nkuku, as they call him, the charming idiot boy. Akunadin keeps him like a pet monkey, trying to impress folks with his kindness of heart, but I believe the Pharaoh's true heart is colder than the black of night. Jumoke had befriended the idiot child, and they often played games together. Jumoke had more patience than most, because Akiiki can't speak and only plays games of his own that no one else can understand."

 

Ryou frowned in his turn. He knew the Spirit of the Ring referred to The Other Yugi with mock respect as the Pharaoh. If he wasn't the pharaoh in Bakura's reality, what did he have to do with them and the Millennium Items? And what about the man who was the Pharaoh there?

 

Ryou rinsed Bakura's hair again, then picked up the wash cloth and began to scrub the back of his neck and shoulders. He had to pause again for a few breaths at the feel of the firm muscles, and at the idea of doing this all over the thief's body. Bakura sighed a little and leaned back onto his hands.

 

"Your touch is quite pleasant and stimulating, Ryou," he said in a low voice.

 

"Mmm," Ryou answered, distracted beyond thought for a few seconds. That voice seemed to go right to his groin. He took a deep, somewhat ragged breath and told his body to slow down, at least for a little while longer.

 

"Don't get too stimulated," he said. "Not until I'm done with this, anyway."

 

Bakura chuckled; that low laugh didn't help Ryou concentrate, either, but he gritted his teeth and returned his attention to the task of washing Bakura's back, and also to his curiosity about this other pharaoh.

 

"If Akunadin is evil, why does Seth follow him?" he asked.

 

Bakura sighed, this time sounding irritated.

 

"The Pharaoh treated Seth as a son after he found him at the temple in the north. That was the same temple I intended to rob of its treasures one day, when I found something even more appealing than gold and grain, something I wished to keep as my own! The blue-eyed young priest had been left alone for the day by his old teachers. He was quite innocent, and yet he was not afraid of me when he found me breaking in to the sanctuary. I could see the spark in his eyes, though it was nearly buried; it had never been lit while he was deep in his studies of the rituals of the gods, alone with old men who had turned their backs on the pleasures of the world. I saw Seth's curiosity blossom when he looked at me. I wanted to satisfy his curiosity, and I wanted to learn all about him as well."

 

Bakura's smile was nearly a leer, but there was softness in it as well. Ryou knew for certain then, with a pang in his own heart, that Bakura did still love the priest with more passion than he would probably ever admit.

 

Ryou nudged Bakura to lift one arm, and washed him from shoulder to finger tip, while Bakura smiled at him, and then he closed his eyes again and seemed to give way to pleasant memories of the past.

 

"The temple was isolated from the world. I returned as often as I could to complete Seth's education, telling him of the great world beyond his temple walls, and teaching him all I knew of pleasure. He was a very avid learner."

 

Ryou found it difficult to imagine the upright priest he'd met giving way to any form of physical pleasure. Then again, he didn't really want to imagine what they might have done together. Just as he moved to the other side to give the other arm the same careful treatment, Bakura's face suddenly fell into a frown.

 

"But one day Pharaoh came by with his whole court on some expedition through the northern part of the kingdom. Akunadin spotted Seth and took a liking to him, and said he saw in him the makings of a High Priest. He took Seth with him when he left. But once his real training began, Akunadin never seemed satisfied with Seth's progress."

 

Ryou began to wash Bakura's chest and torso. He bit the inside of his mouth to keep himself from caressing rather than washing as he ran his hands over the broad chest and firm stomach. Caressing would come later, he thought, trying to convince his own body to wait. He was glad Bakura kept talking, or he wouldn't have been able to listen to his own advice.

 

"I followed them back to the palace when I could, but Seth was not sure he was happy to see his old lover the thief, now that he was part of the royal court. He scolded me for daring to break into the palace and lectured me on the rightness of the law! I found out soon enough that Akunadin had become a hard master as soon as he was sure of Seth's loyalty. He was often cruel to Seth, but the fool only became more determined to please his new master."

 

He scowled darkly. Ryou looked up, just as he was beginning to move down to wash Bakura's legs - trying to ignore what waited in between. Bakura caught his hand on the top of his thigh and held him for a moment.

 

"Why does any of this matter to you, pretty one?" he asked irritably. "My concern for Seth is in the past, and all that was between us is dead now. Whatever his guilty heart made him say, I have no doubt he would much rather see me dead than his precious Jumoke."

The sharp bitterness was back in Bakura's voice. Ryou stared up at him a moment, painfully aware of the deeper feelings that must lie under that bitterness.

 

Bakura loved Seth, and had probably never stopped caring for him, though he would probably never admit it. Ryou blinked water out of his eyes, feeling another pang of something bitter in his own heart as he realized this. But he realized something else just as clearly: even if this Bakura was some analogy of the Spirit of the Ring, their lives must have been very different. He didn't dare hope that his own Bakura - if that was really his name - was capable of loving someone as this visitor from the past was.

 

Even as he thought this, Bakura the thief smoothed the scowl from his face and smiled down at him instead.

 

"Why should we care what Seth says?" he asked, his voice dropping to a purr. He pressed Ryou's hand against his thigh and nudged it toward his groin. "We have better things to think about, pretty Ryou!"

 

"I'm just curious about what happened," Ryou said quickly, feeling his heart start to pound again. "I think there must be a reason you and Seth are here. People don't just travel through time every day, you know! Aren't you curious about what happened to Jumoke, after he gave you such a warning? Isn't that why you went to his tomb?"

 

Bakura scowled again. "Whatever he may have said, Seth believed I killed Jumoke when he saw me there, because Akunadin has said I did it. Now I know why it was even more of a challenge than usual to evade the palace guards on my way to Jumoke's tomb! If Pharaoh has branded me a murderer, it will become harder still wherever I go. I may have to leave Egypt for a while. I can elude Pharaoh's soldiers for a time, but it will be easier if I'm far away."

 

"You are very far away from Pharaoh," Ryou said softly, catching his gaze, which had gone hard and distant again. "Don't you understand? It's been 3000 years or more since the time you lived - longer than it was from the time of the earliest Pharaohs to your time. Think how their monuments have worn away in those years. We know less of your people than you probably know of them. The Egypt of the Pharaohs no longer exists, I'm sorry to say. We have a few crumbling monuments and tombs, a few treasures, a few cryptic writings, which our best scholars have struggled to understand. Your language has long been lost. That's why Jonouchi and I are so surprised to hear ourselves speaking it!"

 

"The Pharaohs no longer rule?" Bakura asked, staring hard at Ryou as this fact finally sank in.

 

"Egypt was overrun by conquerors, a thousand years after you were born. Persians, Greeks, and others. The god that is worshipped there now is one you probably never even heard of."

 

Bakura stared at him. Ryou gave him an earnest, sympathetic look, even though he suspected that the end of the rule of Pharaohs might not bother him all that much. After a moment, Bakura laughed again, a short, bitter laugh.

 

"So things pass," he said flatly. "Even the gods fall before their enemies at last. No one keeps the care of the tombs of the dead? Your world must be overrun by restless spirits!"

 

Ryou shook his head. "I'm afraid most people don't pay much attention to them anymore," he said. He was a little surprised by the sadness in his own voice.

 

"Well, then. What is it you think we are here for?" Bakura asked. "What brought a fledgling High Priest and a tombrobber across time to this world of yours?"

 

Ryou stared back at him, unable to answer. It must have something to do with the Millennium Items. According to the Spirit of the Ring, everything centered on them, and on Yugi, or rather, on Dark Yugi, the spirit that shared Yugi's body. But to Bakura and Seth, Yugi meant nothing at all. Baffled, Ryou shook his head.

 

"I don't know."

 

"I thought not," Bakura said with a quiet laugh. He pulled Ryou back into his arms, sliding their wet bodies together under the warm falling water. "Well, the gods of Egypt may have fled in defeat, but the pleasures of Hathor remain for us to enjoy!"

 

Ryou hesitated for a moment. He had half a desire to think more about it all. He was intensely curious about Jumoke's warning to Bakura and the spirit's warning to him, and there were other questions he wanted to ask as well. Concern for the Spirit of the Ring -- and for Seto Kaiba, who he suddenly remembered with a guilty twinge of concern -- remained in his mind. And he wondered more than ever how the Spirit had become entombed in the Millennium Ring in this reality. It was hard to imagine such a thing ever happening to Bakura, the Prince of Thieves.

 

But the room had grown steamy from their shower, and the was still waiting. And Bakura's body was hard and warm against his.

 

Bakura tugged the cloth out of his hand and raised it to wipe some of the spray from his face. Ryou closed his eyes without thinking. The clean scent of his soap was now mingled with the scent of the thief's body. Bakura's other hand was around his back, pressing him close, and then his lips were on Ryou's again, tasting the water on his face and reaching for a deeper taste of him.

 

Ryou let his thoughts be overwhelmed by his senses and gave in to the kiss. Bakura rubbed the cloth over his face and neck, gently, while still kissing him, and then moved it lower. The rough, wet cloth brushed over his chest, and Ryou made a little moan in surprise when the warm friction of it rubbed against his nipples. The sound of Bakura's low laughter deep in his throat was even more arousing than the sensation.

 

A minute later, Ryou opened his mouth and moaned aloud, all thoughts and questions forgotten, when Bakura's firm hand wrapped the cloth around his rapidly growing erection and stroked him with it. His knees buckled and he threw his arms around the thief's shoulders to stay upright. Involuntarily, he thrust his hips forward, and felt Bakura's erection prod his thigh.

 

He started to kiss Bakura, initiating it himself this time without even thinking about it. Bakura responded eagerly, but after a few seconds, pushed him away a little and stopped stroking him. Ryou blinked his eyes open, feeling cross-eyed and slightly dizzy.

 

Bakura nodded to direct his attention toward the tub, which was nearly full.

 

"We are already as clean as a high priest at the temple of Ra must be," he said, "so what is the tub of water for?"

 

Ryou took a moment to catch his breath and reconnect his mouth to his brain.

 

"It is the tradition in this country to be clean and pure before we enter the tub," he said. He thought he sounded like some kind of tour guide. "It feels wonderful! You'll see."

 

Bakura shrugged, looking amused at his struggle to speak and his effort to pull away. At any rate, he had to do something soon or the tub would overflow. Reluctantly, Ryou turned off the water for the shower, and then stepped out of the reach of Bakura's arms to turn off the tap in the tub as well.

 

When he glanced back at the thief again, his head swam for a moment. The Egyptian's body was gleaming wet, and his arousal was proudly evident. Ryou licked water from his upper lip, and then noticed the thief staring at his mouth, amusement turning to hunger. He swallowed with difficulty before he could speak.

 

"Come on," he said, holding out his hand.

 

Bakura came over and held his hand as he climbed into the deep tub. He touched the steaming water and, as Ryou had expected, drew back in surprise. It was quite a bit hotter than the shower.

 

"You get used to it quickly," Ryou said encouragingly. "It won't hurt you! See?"

 

He eased himself down into the water slowly. The pleasure of it made him close his eyes again. The splendid heat seemed to melt through him, and he leaned back, letting his arms and legs spread wide under the water's embrace.

 

When he opened his eyes again a moment later, after he was settled in with the water lapping at his chest, he found Bakura looking down at him with half-closed eyes and a smoldering smile. He suddenly realized how wanton he must look, all spread out like this. Fortunately, he was already flushed from the heat so he could hardly blush any deeper.

 

He reached his hands up and out in invitation. Slowly, Bakura climbed into the tub facing him, and sank very carefully into the steaming water.

 

Ryou had done his best not to stare too long at Bakura's increasingly evident arousal, but as the thief slowly dropped down in front of him, that part of Bakura's body caught his eyes, and he couldn't drag his gaze away again.

 

He felt another wave of that strange, lightheaded feeling wash through him. Staring at Bakura's body, hard muscled and flushed with the heat, and at his erection bobbing in the water as Bakura sat facing him, Ryou was suddenly overwhelmed with the thought of the Spirit of the Ring.

 

_Would he look just like this?_ he wondered. He swallowed hard again at the thought, remembering the odd, faint pressure of the Spirit's hands on him just before he disappeared. He suddenly felt filled with a sense of longing so strong it hurt.

 

"Are you all right - Ryou?" The thief's soft question, hesitating on his name, cut into his thoughts, and a hand touched his cheek. Ryou quickly opened his eyes, though he hadn't meant to close them, and found Bakura staring at him.

 

"I'm okay," he answered. "It's just the heat..."

 

Ryou realized he'd raised his hand to his chest, where the Ring usually hung. There was a breathless, hollow feeling there, under the marks on his skin where the Spirit had claimed him as his permanent host. The lightheadedness had passed, but the feeling of longing remained, swelling into desire as Bakura leaned toward him.

 

"Bakura," he whispered. It was hardly loud enough to hear over the soft lapping of the water against their skin.

 

The thief reached for him. Ryou moved forward into his strong arms. Desire long buried seemed to course through his veins. He gave in to it and slid his hands up Bakura's thighs under the water, and found silky-soft yet firm flesh that swelled deliciously in his hands. This time it was Bakura who moaned sharply and threw his head back.

 

Ryou slid forward until his legs were beside the thief's hips, so he could lean in and lap the wet skin at the base of his throat and then down his chest. Bakura's arms came around him, one hand sliding low under the water to lift him. Soon he was up on Bakura's legs with his knees drawn up under the thief's shoulders.

 

He breathed in the clean, heated scent of Bakura's skin, reveled in the taste of him and the firm roughness of his cheek, and then found his mouth again. Although he'd never done any of this before, it almost felt familiar, as if he'd dreamed it would be just like this.

 

Bakura nudged Ryou closer by raising his knees a little, and then reached between them to close his hand around Ryou's, encompassing both their erections together. Ryou gasped, feeling himself swell sharply under the pressure of their hands. The blood rushed away from his head so suddenly he nearly did faint. He fell against Bakura with a startled moan, and clung to his neck with his free hand.

 

Bakura's mouth nuzzled his wet hair. His other hand clutched behind Ryou, squeezing gently and encouraging him to squirm even closer. Strong fingers prodded behind him, between his spread legs.

 

"Bakura," Ryou whimpered. "You... ohh... yes!"

 

His head was spinning. He was trying to think, for some reason, as if he suddenly needed to remember something, but he couldn't think what it was. Waves of pleasure coursing through his body tugged at his mind somehow. What was it, what had he forgotten that he needed to know right this second, before his desire could reach its peak?

 

Ryou was flexing, rolling against Bakura. He couldn't help it, but there was something else humming, whispering at the back of his mind. What was it, he needed to think of it, but he couldn't think... The water gurgled softly around them, like the ripple of water against reeds at the river's edge. He caught the scent of heat, of sun-baked mud, the glare of light on rippling water...

 

He realized he was looking into the thief's face, which seemed to float in front of him like a reflection on the water. He was staring at the rugged face, the scarred cheek, the grey-blue eyes glazed with lust. Staring hard, and not seeing what he needed to see...

 

The Ring! Ryou thought suddenly. Sharp pangs of arousal mingled with a sense of panic. That was what he had been trying to remember. _Where is my Ring?_

 

The heat was intense, making it hard to think, beating down on him as if the sun was just above his head, burning heat making the desert sand seem to ripple before his eyes. He needed to find his Ring, but when he tried to search for it in his thoughts there was a blank place, like a pit of darkness that hid his memory of it. He'd lost something in there, far back in the darkness of his own mind...

 

Ryou was brought back suddenly from his confused thoughts when Bakura pressed into him, a finger, two fingers gently pushing inside of him.

 

"Yes," Ryou whimpered, a pleading sound that hardly seemed like his own voice. "Inside of me...I miss having you inside of me!"

 

"Ryou?"

 

Once again he suddenly found himself looking into the startled, concerned face of the thief, into grey-blue eyes without the gleam of red in their depths.

 

Bakura stared back at him, wide-eyed and questioning, suddenly not moving at all. Even the water had gone still, and silence seemed to echo off the tiled walls. He searched the thief's bewildered face.

 

"Where is he?" Ryou whispered.

 

His heart pounded, his vision swam, and then everything went completely black.

 

\---

 

to be continued....

 

 


	9. Awakenings

Jonouchi lay on his back and stared up at the ceiling, listening to the rain outside and to the thought that was buzzing around inside his head like a fly trying to beat its way out of a window.

 

_I’m lying here on the floor in Seto Kaiba's mansion with some ancient Egyptian guy who looks like Seto Kaiba and all I can think is that I wish it_ was _Seto Kaiba. In fact, Kaiba's about all I can think about, period. So what, am I, like, in love with him or something?_

"Ngah!" He sat up and shook his head to get rid of the thought. Not because it wasn't true, though. Just because he was so stupid that he hadn't realized it before.

 

" _Now_ I figure this out," he muttered to himself. "Great timing, Katsuya!"

 

Seth sat up as well, watching him with a concerned frown. Jonouchi glanced at him and looked away quickly.

 

"Don't mind me," he said. "I'm just tripping over my own mind, here. Happens all the time."

 

This didn't seem to reassure Seth at all, though - possibly because Jonouchi had said it in his own language.

 

"Are you feeling unwell, J'nuchi?" Seth asked. He leaned forward and peered at Jonouchi anxiously. "Has this curse that besets Seto Kaiba overtaken you as well?"

 

"Nah!" Jonouchi shook his head and waved Seth’s concern off with his arms, before the priest could start in with some weird chant over him. “I’m fine! Just confused. Not like Kaiba’s confused, just in the usual last-one-to-figure-it-out kind of way. Nothing to worry about!”

 

Seth was clearly unsure he should believe that, but Jonouchi couldn’t worry about what the priest thought. He couldn't just sit here and think about it any more, either. In fact, he could hardlyeven look at the priest now. He just kept wondering if Kaiba looked the same under his clothes, if he smell the same up close, if his touch would feel the same.

 

It was all way too much.

 

"I have to go see what's going on," he said as he scrambled to his feet. "See if they found your old buddy Bakura yet or not."

 

Behind him, Seth made a brief, strangled sound, like the vocal equivalent of a wince of pain, Jonouchi thought. In spite of himself, he turned and looked at the priest.

 

Seth sat with one leg crossed over the other, looking perfectly comfortable sitting there half naked on Kaiba's fancy carpet, except for the droop of his head and his clenched fists. He must really have winced when he heard Bakura's name, Jonouchi realized with a pang of sympathy and a little bit of guilt. Here he was, all of a sudden pining for one lover he'd never had and probably never would have, while Seth had just lost two.

 

Jonouchi watched out of the corner of his eye as Seth slowly climbed to his feet. He had the definite look of a man trying to pull himself together, Jonouchi thought. He may have been missing Jumoke, but apparently his feelings were even more twisted up around Bakura. Jonouchi still had a hard time believing anyone could love a guy like that Millennium Item thief, but the signs were pretty clear, even to him.

 

He remembered the bitterness in Bakura's voice when he'd said Jumoke gave him the ring to protect Seth, and when he'd claimed he didn't care what happened to the priest. But what if Bakura really did take the Ring from Jumoke out of concern for Seth, though, no matter what he said about it?

 

He shook his head. They were a couple of stubborn idiots, all right! The more he thought about it, the more obvious it was to him that Seth still cared about the thief, and he was starting to believe Bakura cared about Seth, too - and yet all they did was fight.

 

That sounded like someone else he knew, too. Well, at least as far as fighting all the time went. Not so much the "cared for each other" part of it, he reminded himself sharply. Even if he'd just figured out how he really felt about Seto Kaiba, he knew Kaiba didn't feel anything like that about him. Even if he did call out Jonouchi's name just before he passed out that last time...

 

Jonouchi stood up abruptly. He'd been hanging around here too long.

 

"I have to go see how Set-- how Kaiba's doing, I mean," he said.

 

"Yes," Seth answered absently.

 

The priest was straightening up his white linen kilt and blue and gold tunic, and now stood in the center of that carpet Jonouchi had gotten so familiar with. Now he was the one staring out the window. Still probably thinking about his lost loves, Jonouchi thought as he turned around and headed for the door.

 

Halfway there, he noticed for the first time that Seth had left his tall hat and his weird duel-disc gear on a chair near the door when he came in, and along with them, the Millennium Rod was lying there as well. That weird, eye-shaped emblem on the rod seemed to wink in the dim light coming from the rainy window. It made his skin quiver to look at it, just like that Ring always did. He dragged his gaze away from the thing, but he still felt like it was staring at the back of his head as he walked by.

 

All of those Millennium Items were creepy, he thought, except maybe for Yugi's puzzle. Besides Malik and Bakura, he remembered that weird guy Shadi with his ankh-shaped Millennium Key, and who could forget Pegasus and his evil Eye! Thinking of that, he paused with his hand on the doorknob.

 

"Yeah, that's right," he said aloud. "You said the pharaoh in your world has that Eye, didn't you? Instead of the Puzzle like Yugi has. I don't know how things are in your world, Seth, but I can tell you, the only guy I ever knew with a golden Eye like that was a real creep! For all I know, Bakura could be right about your pharaoh. But then again, I thought the pharaoh in your time was a guy like Yugi, so, who knows? Maybe your king is a real prince, or maybe in your reality Bakura is one of the good guys. I guess anything's possible." Considering how this day had changed his view of reality, he could believe almost anything now.

 

Seth turned to glare at him. Jonouchi wasn't sure if he just couldn't stand to hear a word said against his king or if it was the idea of Yugi being pharaoh that made him look so sour.

 

"You believe the raving of a thief?" Seth sneered. "Bakura hates Akunadin, because as Pharaoh he has not been merciful to thieves and criminals, and rules firmly with the rightness of Ma'at. But Pharaoh has treated me like a son, when I had no father of my own to guide me. You invite the wrath of the gods when you speak ill of Pharaoh Akunadin!"

 

"Sorry, no offense meant," Jonouchi said quickly. Seth made a haughty sound and turned away again.

 

"Like a son, huh?" Jonouchi added thoughtfully. Seth was enough like Kaiba that this didn't impress him a lot. In fact, it brought the image of another familiar adoptive father-figure into his mind. The idea of someone like Gozaburo Kaiba being pharaoh of Egypt and weilding the Millennium Eye made him shudder.

 

"I sure hope you picked a better foster father than Seto Kaiba got stuck with, then," he muttered.

 

Seth didn't seem to catch that, but it was just as well because Jonouchi didn't feel like trying to explain it all. Thinking about it only made him want to go and see how Kaiba was doing even more than before. But it seemed like an awkward way to leave things. He paused with the door half opened and turned around.

 

"Hey, Seth," he said. He didn't know what else to say, so he just stood there when Seth turned to him again. The angry glare of a moment ago was gone, and he looked at Jonouchi with his clear, direct gaze.

 

"Jonouchi," Seth said, pronouncing his name very carefully this time, and then adding a little, formal nod of his head. It looked as if the Egyptian was finally ready to acknowledge that he was really Jonouchi and not Jumoke.

 

And, Jonouchi thought, this priest standing there, looking so regal and cool all decked out in his blue and white and gold robes -- he wasn't Seto Kaiba, either.

 

"Yeah," Jonouchi said. He nodded to Seth as well, and then turned away and went to find Kaiba.

\---

 

Bakura caught Ryou as the boy's suddenly cool body slumped against him, and held on to keep him from sliding right down into the water. Alarmed, he held Ryou's face up and searched it for signs of life. Ryou's eyelids fluttered, and Bakura could see the rhythm of his life's pulse beat in his throat, but he didn't wake up. His skin had gone cold although his face still seemed flushed. Something more than a lover's swoon that had taken him, he realized. He had to get Ryou out of the water.

 

It was awkward, but his concern for Ryou aided him as he stood and lifted the limp body up in his arms, and then stepped out of the tub. He stood there for a moment, uncertain, both of them dripping puddles on the floor.

 

"Ryou?" he spoke in the boy's ear, then laid his lips against Ryou's cheek. His face was starting to turn pale, although he moaned a little and his breath came out in little puffs of air.

 

He caught a muttered word, and realized he'd also heard it from Ryou's lips a moment before he'd fainted, a word in the boy's own language that he hadn't recognized. Now it somehow echoed in his mind and he realized what it meant.

 

"The Ring?" he said wonderingly.

 

He suddenly recalled Ryou's words when he'd first appeared at the door of Jonouchi's friend, when he'd spoken of some strange weakness and the spirit that had protected him. Frowning, Bakura headed for Ryou's bedroom where they'd left both of the golden Rings.

 

He managed to get the thick covering on Ryou's bed over him, as his damp skin was rapidly growing even colder. Then, gingerly and with a grimace, he picked up Ryou's Ring by its cord and placed it in the boy’s cool hands. Then he sat back on his heels beside the bed, brushing Ryou's wet hair aside from his face, and waited. He didn't know what else to do.

 

Ryou murmured a few words in Bakura's language, while his eyes seemed to search under his closed lids. Bakura leaned closer, but he only heard "gold," "Pharaoh" and "magic;" the rest was too softly spoken to make out. Then he said his own word for Ring again, and another heartbeat later, a soft flush began to return to his white skin.

 

Leaning forward, Bakura reached a cautious hand to touch Ryou's skin, on his throat where the life blood flowed under delicate skin. Just then, the Ring in Ryou's hands flashed briefly. The thief started back and stared at it as his own heart began to pound. A second later, when the Ring showed no other sign, he turned his gaze back to Ryou's face, to find the brown eyes open and staring at him - except now there was a strange crimson fire in their depths.

 

"What has happened?" he asked sharply.

 

"Ah, the sound of the ancient tongue," said a voice from Ryou's mouth, speaking softly in Bakura's own language. Ryou's mouth smiled. "How nice to hear it spoken again, after it has only been an echo in my mind for so long."

 

"What are you?" Bakura demanded.

 

"I am known to these people as the Spirit of the Millennium Ring," said the voice, and the crimson eyes narrowed.

 

"You are the spirit Ryou spoke of - you are myself," Bakura said wonderingly. "My real Double!"

 

"I am a smarter version of you, evidently," the other Bakura said sharply. "You idiot! Can't you see that you're killing him? His will is considerable, but even his strength is no match for whatever magic brought you here. I've given him my own energy to keep him alive, and I will continue to do so as much as I can, but his body grows weaker by the moment even so."

 

The thief drew back in alarm. "My presence is causing this harm to Ryou?"

 

"Obviously!" the spirit snapped, but then he smiled. It gave the thief a chill down his spine to see his own grim smile on Ryou's lovely face. "However, I must thank you as well. Through you, I have been able to feel my host's touch at least a little, which I have longed to do. And more than that, I have discovered thoughts in his mind that he has managed to keep hidden from me until now, and feelings that I never expected him to have for me. I have tolerated your desire for him because of this, even though it's obvious there is someone else you want even more."

 

The thief scowled back at the spirit. "If you speak of Seth..."

 

"Oh, don't bother to deny it, 'Prince of Thieves!' I know that's what your lover the priest calls you. Through my host's thoughts I've learned a great deal of what's been going on since you arrived here. If you search your heart, you'll find that your desire for my host is not entirely your own, while your love for that fool of a priest is real."

 

Bakura scowled hard at the spirit, unsettled by his words and by how much he seemed to know. He was not at all willing to do as his Double suggested and examine his feelings for Seth. Instead, he turned his discomfort around on the spirit.

 

"You call this boy your host? Is that all you think of him? What kind of parasite are you, Spirit?" he snarled.

 

The other Bakura's eyes gleamed like red coals.

 

"I don't have to explain myself to you," he snapped. "I am keeping him alive, while it is your presence here that drains the life force from him."

 

The thief stared at him in alarm, but the other Bakura's expression became serious.

 

"No matter what happens to him, I won't be destroyed, and eventually I would find a new host," the spirit said, softly, as if he was speaking only to himself. "But this one, Ryou, has become ... important to me. And now that I know how he feels.... It may be foolish of me, but I find I'm no longer willing to sacrifice him, possibly not even to obtain the goal that has been my only reason for existing these three thousand years. But I can only give him so much of the dark power at my disposal without causing him even greater harm in time."

 

He turned his sharp gaze on the thief again. "That is why you must take Ryou to find Seth and the one called Yugi, and find the answer to this puzzle, because if you stay here any longer, both Ryou and Seto Kaiba will die. And then, I fear," he continued, though his grin didn't look like he was afraid at all, "whatever evil it is that drains their lives will continue to drain yours, until both Priest and Thief have vanished as well."

 

Bakura hid the worry in his heart and leaned toward Ryou. "You must tell me more! How did we come to be here? Why is your - my - spirit trapped in that evil Ring?"

 

The dark spirit regarded him for a moment. "I do not know all the answers myself, unfortunately," he said in a quieter voice. "Perhaps the tale of our lives is too different for me to guess. Ryou seems to have glimpsed some of your memories of the past, but where I remember certain events from my childhood all too well, I see that you have no memory at all of yours. I wonder why?

 

"When you find the way to return to your own time, I urge you to seek for the seventh Millennium Item - the Puzzle that Yugi bears in this world. If it exists in your time, it may hold the key to many mysteries. If our histories are the same, you will discover a far better reason to despise your Pharaoh than just because he stole your lover away from you. But if our pasts are different, and if you were not present at the moment the Items were made, then you have given me a glimpse of another reality, and of how I might have been..."

 

He trailed off, looking beyond Bakura with a strange expression in his smoldering eyes.

 

"You speak in the riddles of an oracle," the thief said.

 

He scowled at the spirit, disturbed and confused by all he was hearing, especially his last few words. Did he mean to say that he knew the secret of the making of the Royal Items? Bakura looked down at Ryou’s Ring again, with the odd sense of unease he always felt in the presence of those Items. He saw that its light had grown dim, and then he noticed that the crimson eyes had closed as well.

 

"Spirit? Ryou?"

 

Cautiously, he leaned over again, reaching out to the still body. His fingers touched cool skin, and for a moment he didn't feel the beat of a heart. Then he felt a soft flutter of life under his fingers. He heard a sigh, and the body stirred. Ryou turned to him and opened sleepy brown eyes.

 

"Oh dear," he said with a weak smile. "I did faint after all, didn't I? I shouldn't have made the bath so hot. I'm sorry!"

 

Bakura stared at him, realizing that he must not remember anything of the spirit's visit. But just as the other Bakura had hinted, Ryou's strength was returning, although he still looked pale and limp. He wondered whether he should tell Ryou what the spirit had said. He didn't wish to, but how else could he explain that they needed to find Ryou's friends and Seth?

 

While he debated with himself and tried to decide what to say, Ryou noticed the Ring lying in his hands. He ran his fingers over its golden curves with a strange smile, then looked up at Seth curiously.

 

"Did you put this here?" he asked.

 

Bakura nodded. "You asked for it, and it - it seems to have given you strength. But I am worried, now. Ryou, the spirit of your Ring spoke to me."

 

Ryou's eyes grew wide, but Bakura couldn't decide if there was fear or hope, or something else in them.

 

"You are in danger, and so is this other man, this Kaiba you spoke of earlier. This spirit, this other me, he says that our presence here, mine and Seth's, is draining your Ba - your life energy. He said that Seth and I must find a way to return to our own time as quickly as possible."

 

"Oh! You mean, he said you're the danger that he warned me about?"

 

"Apparently." Bakura frowned, and he could see Ryou wondering the same thing that he wondered: if that was true, why where they here at all, and what did Jumoke's warning have to do with all of this?

 

"I am reluctant to say this, but he said I must bring you to your friends. I don't know how to find them. Are you strong enough to show me the way?"

 

Ryou blinked at him in surprise, then nodded. "I think so. I feel quite normal now," he said as he started to sit up, then he paused. "Well, nearly normal. Now that you mention it, I do still feel a little odd."

 

Bakura reached over and put his hand behind Ryou's shoulder to help him sit up. His skin was warm again, and soft as silk, and the wet strands of his hair fell over Bakura's arm. Ryou looked up at him with his soft brown eyes and smiled. At first Ryou simply seemed grateful for the help, and then something else came into his eyes, like a deeper warmth.

 

"I am sorry," he said softly, as he leaned into Bakura's arms. "We didn't get to finish our bath."

 

Bakura drew him in and pressed his lips to Ryou's forehead. "I am sorry as well," he said.

 

But he was less disappointed than he expected to be. His desire for Ryou had cooled, and now he could tell that what the spirit had said was true. It was as if someone else's need had driven him to want Ryou as he did before. Now, even though the pretty one was still wonderfully warm and inviting in his arms, he was only filled with concern for him.

 

Then he remembered that the spirit had also warned him that this curse would eventually threaten Seth as well. He closed his eyes, pressing his face into Ryou's hair, and remembered the fear he'd felt and tried to ignore when Jumoke had warned him that Seth was in danger. He knew that was really why he'd kept the Ring even though he dreaded to touch it.

 

"Come," he said, pulling away from Ryou. "I'll help you dress, and then you must show me the way back to Seth."

 

\---

 

Jonouchi got a little lost before he finally found his way back to the corridor with Kaiba's room. As he came in sight of it, Mokuba came out of the room and carefully closed the door behind him.

 

"Hey, Mokuba," he said, dropping his voice after the first word when Mokuba quickly turned and put his finger to his lips. "Sorry, didn't mean to shout. What's happening? Any change, for the better I hope?"

 

Mokuba shook his head. "No, not really. The doctors just kicked me out. They're running some more tests. They said it will be a while before he can have any visitors. Sorry!"

 

"Yeah," Jonouchi said. "Me too. Well, at least he's still hanging in there, right?"

 

"Yeah." Mokuba didn't sound very enthusiastic.

 

"Come on, we'll figure something out, and you know Kaiba's no quitter. He won't let whatever this is get the best of him! He still has to come back and try to beat Yugi again, and you know he's not ever going to give up on that!"

 

Mokuba looked up at him with an odd expression. "You know, this is a lot like that time after he lost to Yugi, only it's different. He won the last duel he played, but he keeps replaying it, over and over again. At first I thought that was why he collapsed, because he hardly gets any rest and he never eats. He just keeps replaying that last duel."

 

"That's weird. I mean, if he won, what's he worried about? Who'd he beat last time, anyway?" Jonouchi tried to think of any tournaments or duels he'd heard of since Battle City, but it had only been a few weeks and he couldn't think of any events that Kaiba would have bothered with. Mokuba's expression got even odder.

 

"The last time he dueled was with you, Jonouchi," he said. "Don't you remember?"

 

"Me?" It took a second, but he did remember that last duel very well. He just didn't expect Kaiba would ever give it a second thought. "You're kidding!"

 

"Nope. It's been all he's thought about ever since then. We were supposed to leave for America ages ago, but he couldn't drag himself away from his computer simulation of that duel long enough to make the arrangements."

 

Mokuba cocked his head and fixed Jonouchi with a look that was just short of a glare.

 

"Did something happen during that duel? I've never seen him like this before. And after he collapsed, he keeps saying your name, only sometimes it sounds funny."

 

"Yeah. Jumoke, right? That's because of Seth. It's complicated. I have no idea why he's obsessed with our last duel, though, Mokuba. I got control of his Blue Eyes, but he won in the end, so I don't know what's bothering him about it. This thing that's happened to him now, I don't see how it could have anything to do with that, anyway."

 

"Well...." Mokuba said doubtfully. After a few seconds, he shrugged. "I don't really care, just as long as he gets better soon."

 

For a moment, Jonouchi forgot all about Seth and his own problems. Mokuba looked miserable, and Jonouchi realized he was trying to hide just how scared he really was.

 

"Mokuba, he'll pull through! I'm sure of it!"

 

_He's got to_ , he thought. _I can't imagine the world without Seto Kaiba in it, either, and I don't want to._

Mokuba put on a brave face and managed to smile up at him. "Yeah, I know," he said. "Anyway, I have to go do some stuff while the doctors are busy with him."

 

Jonouchi guessed immediately what kind of "stuff" Mokuba needed to do. It probably involved running KaibaCorp himself and keeping the media from finding out that the CEO had collapsed with some mysterious illness.

 

"You'll all stay here as long as it takes, won't you?" Mokuba said. "I had a room fixed up for you and Yugi, and one for Seth, too. Here..."

 

He led Jonouchi to a door next to Kaiba's room. Inside there were two beds, plus chairs, a table, and a big screen TV. Another door led to a private bath.

 

"Jeeze, Mokuba," he started to say.

 

"Yugi agreed to stay already. He's downstairs, getting something to eat. You should go and eat, too. Just ask the cook for whatever you want, okay?"

 

"Yeah, sure..."

 

Mokuba nodded and smiled at him gratefully, then turned away to go deal with his "stuff." He only got a few steps away before he stopped and turned back.

 

"Oh, by the way," he said, "Anzu called here a while ago and spoke to Yugi. She said they haven't found that other guy, but they're going to go back out and look again after the rain lets up."

 

He took off on his own business before Jonouchi could think of a response to that. Jonouchi watched him go, then went in and sat on one of the beds with a "whoosh."

 

"Man, getting something to eat sounds like a good idea. I should go do that, I guess. And a shower and maybe a nap sound good too."

 

But what he really wanted to do was to get in and see how Kaiba was doing with his own eyes. He could just hear the faint sound of voices through the wall, so the doctors must still be in there with him.

 

"Damn."

 

He flopped onto his back on the bed. "Hang in there, Seto Kaiba, you dumb ass. Because I've got something to say to you when you get better. Whether you want to hear it or not."

 

Jonouchi closed his eyes to try to imagine just how he was going to say what he felt. He knew it was probably pointless; it would just get him another good kick in the head. But he had to say something, now that he knew. If he could just figure how to put it, maybe at least Kaiba wouldn't keel over and die laughing at him.

 

"What would Jumoke say?" he muttered. "Would really impress Kaiba if I walked in and said 'I love you' in old Egyptian, wouldn't it!"

 

With that absurd thought and those words in the ancient language echoing in his mind, he suddenly fell asleep.

 

\---

 

Kaiba didn’t know when the doctors finally left. Just before he'd fallen into another faint, he began to realize they were more interested in studying his mysterious illness than in curing it. Unfortunately, threatening them in ancient Egyptian didn’t quite have the effect he wanted.

 

When he managed to focus on the room again some time later they were gone, but they'd left him attached to various machines that bleeped and hummed in a depressing way. Wires trailed from his head, chest, and arms, taped or clipped to his skin. He tried to get a look at the information they were recording, but the screens were all turned away from his view and just out of reach. It was too much effort to climb out of bed and look at them. The energy it took to simply raise his hands to make sure they hadn't shaved any hair off his scalp was enough to wear his arms out.

 

It took him several seconds to realize that the doctors had been replaced by the one person he wanted to see even less. Being sick was bad enough, and going crazy would have been even worse, but the worst thing of all was that he knew he wasn’t crazy when he saw his ancient Egyptian look-alike standing there next to his bed.

 

Seth looked down at him as mournfully as if he was already dead, but his eyes shifted away quickly when he realized Kaiba was awake and staring back at him.

 

"Forgive me for disturbing your rest, but I must speak with you, Seto-Kaiba," he said solemnly. "Although I fear my words may cause you even more distress," he added with another quick, guilty glance.

 

Kaiba closed his eyes and sank back against his stack of pillows. He couldn't imagine what Seth could have to say to him, or how it could be any more disturbing than anything else that had happened so far this day. Unfortunately, at the moment he didn't have the strength to tell him to get lost, so he was just going to have to listen whether he liked what he heard or not.

 

\---

 

To be continued...

 

Next: Jonouchi has more weird dreams, while Seth discusses lovers past and present with Kaiba.

 


	10. Hidden in the Heart

_'Think about it - there must be higher love,_

_Down in the heart, or hidden in the stars above...'_

\-- Steve Winwood, "Higher Love"

 

\---***

 

Kaiba propped himself up as well as he could on his pillows while he waited for Seth to say whatever he was going to say. However, having announced his intention to speak, Seth didn't appear to be in any hurry to start.

 

Yugi and Mokuba had explained Seth’s presence to him as well as they could, not that it made much sense even then. As much as he wanted to believe this was all just some trick or illusion, Kaiba knew Seth was real. He wasn't sure about any of the rest of it, his weakness or the weird dreams or visions he was having, but at least he knew he wasn’t hallucinating when he saw his time-traveling double from ancient Egypt standing next to his bed. Seth looked down at him with his sad expression.

 

_Get out of my sight_ , he wanted to yell, as if Seth was some ordinary intruder who had wandered into his office at Kaiba Corp. He couldn't get the words out. Every time he woke up from one of his faints he had even less strength, and it took longer to get back what he had left. All he could do for now was glare as hard as he could and hope that Seth would get the message.

 

Unfortunately, Seth appeared to be oblivious to his glare. He looked warily at the many wires the trailed from Kaiba to the machines that were reading his vital signs and whatever else the doctors found to investigate.

 

"Your physicians use strange tools," he murmured. "Are these devices capable of curing you, Seto-Kaiba?"

 

"No," Kaiba answered shortly. "No more than your chanting and hand waving did earlier."

 

Seth didn't seem to know enough to be offended. He just stood there with a gloomy expression that Kaiba hoped no one had ever seen on _his_ face. Eventually the priest spoke again, but it was almost as if he spoke to himself.

 

“When you walk in my memories, you see only Jumoke and no others,” he said softly.

 

Kaiba closed his eyes and nearly groaned out loud. He must have been muttering some nonsense from his dreams when Seth had come into the room. _I'm not walking around in your memories, I'm just having a bunch of crazy dreams,_ he wanted to snap. Dreams about Jonouchi, which made no more sense than any of the rest of this stupid day did. But before he could draw enough breath to speak again, Seth sighed and went on, sounding even more gloomy than before.

 

“I wonder why you say nothing of Bakura, who is also a strong presence in my own heart, even though I wish it wasn’t so?”

 

Kaiba stared up at Seth with his mouth open for a moment, confused all over again. What did that crazy duelist who had wormed his way into the Battle City Finals have to do with any of this?

 

“Bakura?” he finally said. “That – that psychopathic, marshmallow-headed geek?”

 

At least, that’s what his brain said, but the Egyptian words for “mad, soft, downy-feather-haired youth” came out of his mouth. Close enough, he decided. Seth cocked his head for a second, but then he smiled and nodded.

 

“Ah, you must refer to the Bakura of this world, the one they also call Ra-yoo,” he said. He made an odd face as he tried to pronounce Bakura’s given name, which Kaiba only vaguely remembered. “I assure you, the Bakura of my own world is not at all soft or feathery.”

 

His sad, bitter smile didn’t make him look any happier. Kaiba finally remembered Yugi telling him that there was another ancient Egyptian character who had arrived with Seth from the past, and something about them trying to kill each other. Yugi had stammered and blushed when Mokuba had asked him why, and could only say they weren’t quite clear on that point yet.

 

Suddenly he remembered why they'd been fighting, but he didn’t know if he knew because Yugi had mentioned it or if it came to him from one of his feverish dreams.

 

“Jumoke is dead?” The words came out in a choked gasp.

 

Seth bowed his head. “My beloved has gone to the West,” he said softly.

 

Something seemed to clench around Kaiba’s heart, stopping his breath in the same way the first attack this morning had done. He shook his head against painful memories that couldn't possibly be his own. _His_ Jumoke – Jonouchi, rather – was just as alive as ever; he had to be. Kaiba remembered seeing him right here in this room, not long ago. But next to that memory, an image came to him of Jonouchi lying as still as death, as cold and pale as the stones of the tomb they’d left him in….

 

Kaiba choked back a cry of denial. Seth looked down at him sympathetically and shook his head.

 

“You do not need to feel my grief as your own,” he said with a patient, priestly smile. “Your own beloved Jonouchi is alive, and -  


“He’s not my beloved!” Kaiba snapped. He sat forward so suddenly that Seth took a step backward. “He’s not _my_ anything at all!”

 

For a few seconds they stared at each other, both shocked and wide-eyed. Kaiba knew they mirrored each other perfectly, except that he was dripping sweat and panting for breath while Seth stood quite still.

 

Kaiba shuddered and closed his eyes, afraid of what Seth might see if they stared at each other too long. He fell back on the pillows, shaking as waves of heat and cold swept over him. If he really was reliving Seth’s memories, he suddenly wondered: could Seth see what was in his mind as well?

 

When he looked up again, Seth’s head was bowed, and his face was troubled.

 

“Do you not love Jonouchi as I did Jumoke?” he muttered. “If you do, I have done you a great wrong, Seto-Kaiba. That is why I have come to you now, to beg your forgiveness, for I have trespassed on the territory of your heart. But if you do not love him, then what of Jonouchi's heart…?”

 

He frowned and cocked his head questioningly. Kaiba was ready to meet his eyes this time, and stared back with a cool gaze in spite of the fever and weakness that passed through his body. Seth couldn't read his mind. That was a ridiculous idea.

 

However, Seth only shook his head slowly and smiled as if he knew everything there was to know.

 

“Your words may deny it, but my own heart sees the truth. Why else would you wander in my memories of Jumoke as you do? I think that is why you only remember him from my past and no others. I guess your heart is captured just as mine was. Perhaps even more so, for you never loved another as I did, it seems.”

 

“I don’t choose to wander in your memories at all,” Kaiba snarled, but his voice had grown weak again. He was about to fall into another fainting spell, and in spite of what he said, he knew what dreams he would find there. But he wasn't about to admit it, not to this smug, all-knowing version of himself - even if he couldn't deny it from himself any longer

 

Seth opened his mouth to speak again, but Kaiba cut him off.

 

“Unless you have something more useful to say, like why this is happening to me or how to stop it, then get the hell out of my room, right now! I’ve heard enough of your Egyptian nonsense!”

 

His breath ran out and he couldn’t go on. Seth finally seemed to get the message, though. He bowed, and then turned to go.

 

“I will leave you to rest, Seto-Kaiba,” he said. “Jonouchi would insist on it, for his concern for you is great. I understand now... I will not trouble you with my words any further, for I fear your heart would mistake their meaning. We will speak again later.”

 

“I hope not,” Kaiba muttered. He turned away and closed his eyes, shutting out the priest. He tried to ignore the little twist he felt inside when Seth had said Jonouchi was concerned about him. The last thing he wanted was pity from anyone, and especially not from the mutt.

 

He heard the door close, and dared to open his eyes only when he was certain Seth was gone. The room was starting to go dim again, but he blinked and gritted his teeth, trying to hold onto his own thoughts a little longer.

 

The vision of Jonouchi – no, _Jumoke_ – lying there, dead and entombed, flashed into his mind again. He winced. That was just some fantasy out of the past, not reality. Jonouchi was not about to die.

 

On the other hand, he realized, he just might be dying, for all he knew. The doctors were useless; they had no more idea what was happening to him than he did. He might as well call in the hucksters at the little shrines who sold charms to gullible tourists, for all the good they was doing him.

 

Seth said they would speak again later, but he was beginning to wonder if there would be any "later." If he fell into one of these fainting fits and never woke up….

 

Kaiba suddenly felt as mournful as Seth had looked. If he never woke up, he would never see Mokuba again… or Jonouchi. But at least Mokuba knew how much his big brother loved him, he hoped. Jonouchi would never know that he felt exactly the way he’d just told Seth he didn’t feel about him.

 

Jonouchi wouldn’t know he felt the same way Seth had felt when he sat beside Jumoke and watched the sun rise over the Nile, when he wasn’t really watching the sky at all. He only saw the golden light of Ra-touch golden hair, and felt warm, golden skin against his own.

 

“Jonouchi,” Kaiba whispered, "Katsuya."

 

The vision faded. He tried to hold on to it, but the world fell away into darkness again.

\---

 

Something rocked the bed and jarred Jonouchi awake, but not quite awake enough to make him open his eyes just yet.

 

"Yugi?" he mumbled. "Is that you?"

 

It had gotten so hot again that he really didn't feel like moving, but he managed to lift his tired head from where it rested on his arm and to pry his eyes open.

 

Yugi was there, but Jonouchi had to squint to see him against the glare. When his eyes adjusted, he saw that the light came from bright sun reflected off the water. Of course he wasn't on a bed - why did he think that? He was on a boat which Yugi guided with a long pole, pushing it across the dazzling water toward a bank of reeds that grew higher than Jonouchi's head.

 

The sun beat down on them, on Yugi's golden-brown skin and his plain white tunic, and on Jonouchi in his - well, in not much, he realized as he looked down at himself. He just had a sort of towel wrapped around his waist, and nothing else. He distinctly remembered getting completely dressed a few minutes ago before he’d left Seth in that room. But it was raining then...

 

For a second, Jonouchi knew he was having another one of his weird dreams. He wondered why he kept dreaming about Yugi and himself being in Egypt. Then the boat slipped in between the reeds that rose up like a wall around it, blocking off the view of the wide water they'd just crossed, and somehow that made him forget that he was dreaming. They ran aground softly on the muddy riverbank, and Yugi hopped out.

 

"Hey, wait for me!" he said. He jumped off the boat and followed before Yugi could disappear among the reeds.

 

Yugi led him along a path that only he seemed to be able to see. Jonouchi noticed that he was hunched over as he walked, as if he was carrying something heavy and precious in his hands.

 

He remembered the game they'd played recently, a game of hide-and-seek where Yugi gave him small objects to hide. He'd hidden every one of them as cleverly as he could all over the palace, but Yugi always found them - all but one of them.

 

"What've you got there, Yug? You want me to hide something so you can to search for it again?" Jonouchi said.

 

Yugi shook his head but didn't turn around. Jonouchi shrugged and kept following him.

 

He caught a glimpse of something bright gleaming through the reeds ahead. Jonouchi thought they must be on an island and they'd come back to the river on the other side, but when they stepped out into a clearing a second later, he saw there was only a pool of water lined with white stone. Lotus flowers grew in pool, but where the sun danced off the water in between them, it was brilliant blue, like the color of Seto's eyes.

 

Yugi walked past this without giving it any notice, and then Jonouchi saw that it wasn't the sunlight on the water that he'd glimpsed shining through the reeds. Three gleaming, white, rectangular stones, nearly twice as high as his head, stood beyond the pool. Two of them were carved with figures, although one of them was too cracked to tell what the carving had been, and the third one was blank. Jonouchi had a feeling of awe and wariness as he stood in front of them, as if it was forbidden to look at them.

 

"Are you sure it's okay to be here, Yugi?" he asked nervously.

 

Yugi turned to him but didn't answer. Instead, he held out the object in his hands. Jonouchi was surprised to see the carved, golden box that he kept some of his best cards in. He remembered Yugi giving him a couple of powerful cards from that box when they were on the way to Duelist Kingdom - an awesome gift, he thought.

 

"You don't need to give me any more of your Duel Monsters, Yugi," he said quickly.

 

Yugi frowned at him as if his words didn't make sense. Then Jonouchi saw that the lid of the box was open, and he looked down into it to see - nothing. It was empty.

 

"What?" For a second he was confused, as if he couldn't remember what was missing. "Wait, isn't this where you keep that puzzle of yours?" he asked.

 

Yugi's eyes went wide, his finger came up to his lips.

 

Jonouchi clamped his hand over his mouth. "Oh, no, what'd I say wrong?"

 

Yugi stared at him for a moment with the same look he got on his face when he was trying to teach Jonouchi one of his games that nobody else could make sense of, the look that said "you're hopeless, you know that?" in a friendly way. After a second, he shrugged and turned around to look at the stone tablets. Awestruck but curious, Jonouchi looked up at them as well.

 

He realized he recognized the carving on the one that was complete. But it wasn't a stone tablet; it was just a card in Yugi's hand. Yugi held it out to him.

 

"Oh yeah, that’s Time Wizard! You sure you want me to have this, Yugi?"

 

Yugi nodded emphatically, smiling in that way he had that made Jonouchi wonder how anyone could not like the little guy.

 

"Okay," Jonouchi said. "I'll take it, if you're sure. I bet it'll come in handy sometime.... Uh- oh. What?"

 

Yugi's smile had frozen on his face. A cold wind came up from behind Jonouchi and bent the reeds toward the ground, and a shadow fell across his back.

 

Yugi stared past him. His huge, amethyst eyes had grown wide with fear. Jonouchi felt like he was frozen to the spot. He sensed something dark and terrible approaching from behind him, but he couldn't turn around; he couldn't move at all.

 

"Run, Yugi! Go!" he yelled.

 

Yugi had already disappeared. It was just him and this thing approaching, this cold, black shadow rushing up behind him.

 

At the last second before he knew it was going to engulf him, all he could think was "I can't let it get him!" But it wasn't Yugi or even himself he was worried about.

 

"Seto!" he yelled, and woke up.

 

Clutching his chest, gasping for breath and sweating cold bullets, Jonouchi sat up on the bed.

 

"What the...?" he gasped.

 

The images from the dream jumbled and faded as he remembered where he was - in a room in Kaiba's mansion, next to the one where Kaiba himself was lying there fading in and out of reality, in the grip of some mysterious illness. The dream faded, but the sense of dread for Kaiba was sharper than ever.

 

Still panting for breath, Jonouchi jumped up and headed for the door. He nearly ran right into Yugi in the hallway.

 

"Jeeze, Yugi! I fell asleep! What's happening? How's Kaiba? Are the doctors gone, or what?"

 

"Kaiba's just the same, as far as I know," Yugi said. "I was coming to look for you, though. Anzu just called again. She's been trying to reach Bakura, but he's not answering his phone! She's worried about him, so she and Honda are going to meet at his place to make sure he's okay."

 

"Yeah?" Jonouchi said absently. That didn't sound good, but he was more concerned about what was going on in Kaiba's room. The door was closed, but he thought he heard voices from the other side of it.

 

He'd finally remembered what he'd decided to tell Kaiba, but he still didn't know how he was going to say it, exactly. He'd rather not have too many witnesses to the scene that was likely going to end in ridicule and humiliation for him. If he could just get a few minutes alone with Kaiba while he was awake...

 

The door flew open and Mokuba charged out like a kid on a mission. He threw the door shut behind him, then stopped short when he saw the two of them standing there in the hallway.

 

"Jonouchi! Great! You're right here!" He looked relieved.

 

"Why? What's up?" Jonouchi asked quickly.

 

"Seto told me to find you. He wants to talk to you, right away!"

 

"He's awake? That's good news!" Yugi said.

 

"Me? He wants to see me?" Jonouchi said nervously. He couldn't think of any good reason for Kaiba to want to see him. More likely, he was going to get chewed out and insulted even before he even had a chance to _really_ make a fool of himself.

 

Mokuba nodded. "Yeah. I told you, he's been saying your name all the time, but this is the first time he's actually asked for you when he was conscious!"

 

Jonouchi caught Yugi's puzzled and concerned look out of the corner of his eye.

 

"Do you want us to come in there with you?" Yugi asked.

 

Jonouchi shook his head. "Nah. I'll live. Anyway, I've got something I need to say to him while I've got the chance."

 

"I don't think he wants to see anyone else right now," Mokuba said to Yugi. "He especially said not to let Seth into his room again."

 

"No surprise there," Jonouchi said. Then he did a double-take at Mokuba. "Wait a sec, are you saying Seth's been in there again since before?"

 

Mokuba nodded. "I guess he was here a little while ago. Seto wanted to know where he is, too, but he just said to make sure he stays away from here!" He looked at Jonouchi and Yugi reproachfully. "I was hoping he could help somehow, but it seems like every time he comes near, Seto feels worse."

 

"That's not really surprising," Yugi said, "especially since he doesn't want to believe that Seth exists."

 

Jonouchi was more concerned with what Seth had said to Kaiba on his last visit. It must have been while he was sleeping, which was after his weird little encounter with Seth earlier. But Seth couldn’t have told him about that, could he? Wait, how much had he admitted to Seth when his head was all muddled? That crazy-assed meddling priest couldn’t have taken it into his head to make Jonouchi’s confession for him, could he?

 

Great. Of course he could.

 

"Can that priest possibly cause any more trouble?" he muttered.

 

Ignoring the curious looks from Mokuba and Yugi, he stepped up the door, took a deep breath, opened it, and plunged into the room.

 

\---

 

"Damn it," Kaiba muttered, staring at the door where Mokuba had just slammed just behind him. He didn't even care what language he swore in.

He'd come to a minute ago and found Mokuba standing by the bed. His heart had felt wrenched; his little brother looked lost and scared for a second, before he'd managed to cover it up.

 

Kaiba knew he'd been muttering something about Jumoke again, just before he woke up, and this time he knew why. When Mokuba asked again if he wanted to see Jonouchi, he didn't hesitate to answer.

 

"Yes. Find him for me, Mokuba, fast - before I forget where I am again!"

 

Startled, Mokuba had run off to do as he asked without another word.

 

Kaiba realized he could deny it to Seth all he wanted, and to anyone else, but he didn't have the strength left to deny it to himself. When he'd fallen into those crazy Egyptian dreams again this time, he knew even as he was dreaming that these weren't Seth's memories of making love to Jumoke in the deep night on the edge of the desert, or under the sun on the banks of the Nile. They were his own fantasies of Jonouchi, and even if they'd only been revealed to him by this weird brain fever, he wanted those fantasies of the ancient past to be real.

 

It would never happen, of course. He'd done far too good a job of throwing up a wall between himself and the golden-haired, no-longer-third-rate duelist to keep him away. He'd had to. There wasn't room in his life or his heart for anyone else but Mokuba.

 

That's what he'd always believed, until now. Maybe it was only this fever affecting his brain, but it seemed like his entire life had been thrown into question by the presence of Seth and this illness that weakened him for no reason. It might be crazy and it was probably pointless, but he wanted to see Jonouchi again, and he wanted to tell him...

 

His thoughts were interrupted when the door opened and Jonouchi stepped in. He closed the door behind him and slowly came across the room, staring hard at Kaiba. With his head down, peering out from under his hair, he looked wary, as if he thought he was walking into a lion's den.

 

Kaiba felt almost like his breath was being taken away again, but not in the painful way it was when a fainting spell attacked him. He realized suddenly that the vision he saw in Seth's memories was of a different person, as much like and yet unlike Jonouchi as he was like and unlike Seth. If that meant Jumoke was real after all, he didn't even care anymore. Jumoke might have been gorgeous in Seth's eyes, but it was only Jonouchi who took his own breath away.

 

How the hell could this have happened, he wondered, as Jonouchi stopped beside the bed. It was almost as if the obsession he'd been burying and hiding from himself for so long had somehow been drawn through time to be flaunted in his face.

 

"Feeling any better?" Jonouchi asked.

 

"At the moment," Kaiba lied. Sweat broke out on his forehead and his heart pounded just from the effort of speaking, but he tried to ignore that.

 

Jonouchi looked at him warily for a second. He looked scared, Kaiba thought, but he couldn't guess why.

 

"Mokuba said you wanted to see me about something," he said. "I was on my way here, as a matter of fact. I've got something to say to you, too, Kaiba."

 

"Whatever you have to say will have to wait," Kaiba said quickly, trying not to gasp for breath. "I don't know how much time I have for this, so just keep quiet and listen, for a change!"

 

Jonouchi scowled, and Kaiba saw his fists clench at his sides. Whatever the mutt was worried about, he was still as impatient and easy to offend as ever. But then he relaxed and nodded.

 

"Sure, I guess. Say whatever it is you have to say. But if you're going to rip my head off, can you at least do it in our own language? "

 

For some reason, that made Kaiba grin. He didn't even notice which language he was using any more, but he agreed. This discussion belonged strictly in the present.

 

"Of course," he said, speaking carefully and distinctly in their native tongue. "I prefer to speak in my own language, but just remember, I'm doing the talking."

 

Jonouchi nodded again. He stood there in a slouch with his hands in his pockets. He looked like he was waiting for a blow. Kaiba took a few seconds to try to get his breath so he'd sound as normal as possible when he started to speak again - or maybe it was more than a few seconds, because suddenly he found Jonouchi sitting on the side of his bed, leaning toward him and looking worried.

 

"Shit, Kaiba," he said. "You don't even have the strength to tell me off, do you?"

 

Kaiba shook his head. "That's not..." he began. But Jonouchi was so close, staring at him so intently, that he couldn't finish.

 

"Seth was in here again, wasn't he?" Jonouchi said. "Mokuba says every time he comes near you, you get worse. Did he say something that freaked you out or something?"

 

Kaiba found himself grinning. Apparently, Seth was right about that, too.

 

"He said you were concerned about me," he said. "I thought he was dreaming!"

 

"I am worried about you, Kaiba!" Jonouchi said, but he sounded more angry than worried. "I hate seeing you like this. If I could do anything to make you better, I'd do it in a second! Don't you know that?"

 

He did. It was just hard to accept when he hated so much to admit that he might need help. He didn't need help just like he didn't need friends, and just like he didn't have room in his heart to let anyone in.

 

But he was starting to fade out again already. He was lightheaded and he shivered with cold. The room seemed to be shifting around behind Jonouchi. He reached out to steady himself. Jonouchi looked down at his hand where it had landed on his arm. Kaiba looked down at it, too. He curled his weak fingers around Jonouchi's sleeve. He didn't want to let go.

 

"Don't disappear again," he said without thinking.

 

"Huh? I'm not going anywhere," Jonouchi answered. Now he sounded worried.

 

Jonouchi's hand closed over his. That helped; he was able to open his eyes and focus again.

 

"Seth said something else," Kaiba said. It was getting harder to talk, his breath felt so shallow. Jonouchi frowned and opened his mouth, but Kaiba went on quickly, before his voice could give out completely. "He seemed to think the reason I keep remembering how it was with him and Jumoke is because I feel the same way about you. I wanted to tell him he was crazy, but I couldn't, because he's right."

 

He had to pause. That was all right; it gave him the chance to watch Jonouchi's face as the words sank in.

 

"He said... huh?"

 

The mutt looked at him blankly. Did he have to spell it out? After a few seconds, he managed to continue.

 

"I've been imagining what it was like for Seth having someone like you for a lover, because I want that for myself."

 

Jonouchi stared at him disbelievingly.

 

Kaiba had run out of breath again. It wasn't just the weakness coming over him, though. Jonouchi's face was so close to his that he couldn't seem to think clearly anymore. He couldn't see the room behind Jonouchi; it could have disappeared entirely for all he knew. He moved his hand up from Jonouchi's arm to his shoulder and tried to pull himself up, but his grip was weak. Jonouchi caught his hand before it slipped off, held it there, and leaned down closer instead.

 

"Kaiba?" he said. He sounded nervous.

 

"Jonouchi..." Kaiba said.

 

He looked up into worried, golden-brown eyes. He didn't have the strength to say any more, so he did the only thing he could think of to make it clear - the only thing he wanted to do now anyway. He pulled Jonouchi down until they were inches apart, breath to breath.

 

Jonouchi didn't pull away, but only made a funny, little, surprised sound when Kaiba kissed him.

 

\---

 

For a horror-struck second after Kaiba had taken hold of his shoulder, Jonouchi thought Seth had somehow replaced Kaiba or possessed him, because he saw that same hunger and longing he'd seen in Seth's eyes before. But Kaiba's words a moment ago were in his own language, even if they didn't seem to make any sense. Even when Kaiba said his name breathlessly, he still didn't quite believe what he was hearing and seeing.

 

When Kaiba kissed him, he knew. This was not Seth. Kaiba tasted different after all, and maybe it was just the fever, but the heat of his mouth was hotter. Seth's kiss had been sure and familiar, but Kaiba's mouth on his was hungry with a different kind of longing, new and a little clumsy, maybe even a little desperate. Or maybe that was him being so desperate. Or both.

 

Even so, Jonouchi murmured a question into the kiss.

 

"Kaiba?"

 

Kaiba's reply was a sigh against his lips. His fingers clutched at Jonouchi's neck, trying not to let the kiss end, but he was too weak to hold on. Jonouchi caught his hand and tucked it against his chest, then slid his arm behind Kaiba's back to hold him up close. He let their kiss continue until he was afraid Kaiba was going to faint again for lack of air, then he gently pushed him back onto his pillows, caressing the hot skin of his cheek. Kaiba's breath was soft and fast on his face.

 

He let his forehead rest against Kaiba's and looked him in the eyes.

 

"Damn," he said, with a sulky little sigh.

 

Kaiba's eyebrow quirked up and his frown looked worried.

 

"Nah, I didn't mind at all," Jonouchi reassured him quickly. "It's just that you beat me to the punch. That's pretty much what I was going to say."

 

"You're joking," Kaiba said, in a panting whisper.

 

"Nope. Not joking."

 

Kaiba still looked like he didn't believe it. Jonouchi touched his cheek.

 

"When Seth kept looking at me like I was his long lost lover, I kept wishing it was really you looking at me like that," Jonouchi explained. He gave Kaiba another brief kiss. "Looks like I get my wish."

 

Kaiba slowly smiled. He rested his cheek against Jonouchi's. Jonouchi pulled him into his arms and held him, just listening to him breathe. His face was not so hot anymore.

 

"Better," Kaiba said after a minute of silence. "I feel better now."

 

"Good," Jonouchi sighed with relief. He blinked a few times; his eyes suddenly felt a little watery for some reason.

 

A second later, Kaiba's eyes fluttered closed and he fell soundly asleep in Jonouchi's arms.

 

Jonouchi stayed where he was, bent over and half on the bed with his face next to Kaiba's, listening to his soft breath and the quiet bleep of the machines.

 

"Don't disappear on me now, Seto," he said.

 

\---

To be continued!


	11. Here and Gone

During the trip across town, Ryou kept wishing he had a camera. The familiar journey became an adventure with Bakura, who was as cool and as wary as a cat walking past a dog pound. He tried not to look startled or even impressed by the many sights that must have been strange to him, from motor scooters to skyscrapers made of glass, but he couldn't completely hide his curiosity about this busy, noisy world he'd landed in.

 

However, the main thing Ryou wanted to preserve was simply the sight of Bakura strolling along the streets of Domino, with his lean, muscular body clad in black leather coat and pants, and his sharp eyes taking in every sight. Ryou tried to imprint that fine view onto his mind to treasure forever. Unfortunately, with the way his mind kept fading in and out, he wasn't sure he was going to remember his own name by the time they got to Kaiba's.

 

It soon became obvious that he wasn't going to be able to walk all the way across town, either, although he could have done so easily under normal circumstances. Instead, he got to introduce Bakura to the joys of riding in a city bus. The thief looked a little doubtful when the lumbering beast opened its doors like great jaws ready to devour them, but once he sat down and the bus began to accelerate through the streets, he grinned like a kid, and just as eagerly watched the world go by outside the window.

 

For Ryou, the murmur of the other passengers' voices began to sound like the haggling of merchants and buyers in a crowded marketplace, and the rumble of the bus seemed to become the clatter of carts and footsteps echoing off low stone buildings. As the bus swayed and wove through traffic, Ryou felt himself jostled by a crowd who had somehow all become taller than him.

 

He looked up from the height of a child, hardly noticed by the adults in the marketplace as they went about their business. That was fine with him; it that much easier to grab a handful of dates here and a small loaf of bread there, and hide them in his tunic. He ducked into the shade behind the buildings on the edge of the village to feast on his stolen dinner, and stared out across the plain. Rippling in the heat under Ra's harsh light, many other small towns dotted the plain, clustered more thickly near the white walls of the city in the distance.

 

He was no longer a child but a young man, now, as he squinted at that city with a sense of anticipation. There was something there he wanted badly, although he also felt a shiver of dread run through him at the site of those walls. Seth was there, he knew - although he was not sure why he was so eager to see the young priest, whether it was to embrace him, protect him, or see him dead alongside the rest of his enemies.

 

The conflicted feelings split apart inside him, jarring him out of himself. Suddenly, he was Ryou again, standing in a strange place and watching as a tall figure in a red robe struck out across the plain, not toward the city but toward the shadowed ridge to the west.

 

He had to follow him. He couldn't let the thief disappear again.

 

"Wait, Bakura! Let me come with you!"

 

His voice seemed tiny in the vast distance of the plain. Bakura must not have heard him because he kept walking, his long legs taking great strides across the sand. Ryou tried to run and catch up to him, but the sand sucked at his feet and slowed him down. He struggled on, although the thief began to disappear into the shadows that crept toward him from the west, creeping up from the tombs hidden in the canyons there.

 

"Wait! Don't leave me behind again!" Ryou tried to call, but it was a silent plea, as if the sand that sank under his feet also muffled his voice.

 

The red-robed man slowed, though, as if he'd heard. Slowly, he started to turn around, as the shadows swelled behind him. A sense of dread came over Ryou, a wave of fear that the face inside the hood might not be Bakura's at all, but some other, horrible thing - the face of a rotting corpse, or a red-eyed shadow....

 

The sand sank beneath him, sucking him down along with it into the earth. As the thief turned toward him, he caught a flash of white hair and a gleam from blue eyes, just before the sand closed over his head.

 

"Ryou? Pretty one?"

 

Ryou gasped, surprised to discover that he could still breathe after all. Something had jolted him, and now a pair of strong arms shook him gently. His eyes flew open to find Bakura's concerned face watching him. He blushed when he realized that he'd slid down nearly into the thief's lap, with one arm around his waist. Seeing that he was awake, the thief relaxed and smiled.

 

"Your dream seemed pleasant at first, so I did not want to wake you," he said softly. "But this conveyance has stopped. Does that mean we've reached our destination?"

 

Ryou tore his eyes away from the scarred face to glance out the window.

 

"Oh! Yes! We're nearly at Kaiba's home. We have to get off here."

 

Reluctantly, he pulled himself away from Bakura and stood up, but he almost sat down again just as quickly. Bakura put an arm around his waist and helped him maneuver out into the aisle of the bus. An old woman stared at them with a raised eyebrow and scowl., looking rather pointedly at the cozy way Bakura's hand rested on Ryou's hip. Red-faced, Ryou smiled back at her nervously. Unfortunately, Bakura had noticed her disapproving glare as well.

 

"Mind your eyes, stupid cow, or I'll pluck them out to make a necklace!" the thief muttered casually as he passed by her with Ryou leaning on his arm.

 

Ryou winced. It was a good thing Bakura could only speak in ancient Egyptian.

 

The bus had let them off at the end of a lane that wound around the perimeter of Kaiba's estate. They could just catch a glimpse of the mansion through the wrought iron fence and hedge. Ryou knew the main gate was just around the bend in the lane; he'd been past it plenty of times, but he'd never been through that gate before.

 

Of course it was too much to hope that it would be open, or that someone would be standing there waiting to let them in. The wrought iron gate set into a thick wall looked like the entrance to a fortress. Ryou hoped Yugi and the others were really here, because Kaiba wasn't likely to let them in on his own. For the first time, it occurred to him that he might have called first - but then he remembered that his phone was still disconnected back at his apartment.

 

"Are there no guards?" Bakura wondered as they approached. He grinned as he eyed the gate and wall. "Well, then, this will be easy enough!"

 

"No, wait," Ryou said, clutching at his arm. "We don't need to break in. I hope. You'll probably just get zapped if you try that, anyway."

 

"Zapped?" Bakura echoed the strange word curiously. "What is that?" But he stood back as Ryou walked up to the intercom set into the wall beside the gate.

 

Ryou still felt like he was only half awake. It took him a few seconds to figure out which button to push. Bakura jumped when a gruff, male voice came out of an unseen speaker.

 

"Yeah, kid? What do you punks want?"

 

"That's not a very nice way to greet visitors," Ryou said before he could stop himself. "Oh! I'm sorry, I don't know what's wrong with me!"

 

He bowed toward the speaker, stumbling a little as he stood up straight again. "We're friends of Mr. Kaiba's. I believe my friend Yugi Motou is here also, and we need to see him, please!"

 

"What?" the speaker voice crackled. "What kind of joke are you two trying to pull?"

 

Ryou's heart sank. It sounded like Yugi wasn't here, after all. Of course, everyone knew Yugi and Kaiba weren't the best of friends, so just saying he was Yugi's friend was probably enough to get them locked out.

 

"We're not joking at all," he said earnestly. "Can you please let Mr. Kaiba know we're here, at least? It's rather important, actually." He tried to sound both polite and forceful, but it was difficult to be either one when he was swaying on his feet - either that, or the wall was moving side to side.

 

"Oh! I forgot," he added suddenly. "My name is Bakura and this - " he waved his arm vaguely toward the thief, "um, well, this is Bakura too!"

 

"Buddy, I can't understand a word you're saying!"

 

"You can't?" Ryou asked the speaker plaintively.

 

"I don't know what you've been drinking, kid, but you and your friend better just get lost, before we send the guards out there!"

 

Bakura stepped behind him and placed his arms on his shoulders to hold him steady.

 

"What is this creature saying to you?" he asked, eyeing the talking wall warily. "Is it going to let us inside?"

 

Ryou shook his head. "They don't seem to understand..." He looked up at Bakura, bewildered. Then it hit him: he'd been speaking in ancient Egyptian.

 

"Oh dear! I apologize!" He clapped his hand over his mouth. "No, wait, that was still Egyptian, wasn't it?"

 

He stared at the intercom helplessly. He didn't know why - maybe it had something to do with the comfortable weight of Bakura's hands on his shoulders - but he couldn't think of a single word in his own language. It was so ridiculous and he felt so lightheaded that he giggled before he could stop himself.

 

His knees buckled. He would have fallen if Bakura hadn't caught him under his arms and pulled him back against his chest. Ryou closed his eyes and sighed. It felt just as nice as it did back when Bakura first held him like this back at his apartment.

 

But they weren't at his apartment. They were standing outside the gate to Kaiba's mansion, although at the moment, he couldn't think why. Actually, nothing was making much sense at all just then. Ryou struggled to think through the haze that was closing down his mind. He remembered that he was supposed to be getting to Yugi, and to Seth, so he could help Kaiba, and so he could help the Spirit of the Ring.

 

That thought brought on a sharp twinge of concern. He wondered why the Spirit wasn't able to keep him strong any more - something must be very wrong. They needed help fast!

 

"He is still protecting you," Bakura said softly.

 

Ryou realized that he must have wondered out loud without meaning to. Bakura's hand shifted to just barely touch the Ring through his shirt. "He is afraid even his magic will harm you. That's why he sent us here to find your friends."

 

Ryou blinked in surprise. The idea that the spirit was worried about him made him feel even more giddy than before.

 

Bakura helped him over to where he could lean against the fence, then he stepped back and looked up at the gate and fence with a professional gleam in his eye.

 

"If the gate won't open for us, we'll have to find our own way inside," he said with a grin.

 

"I still don't think that's a good idea," Ryou said. But he couldn't explain why, because he still couldn't think in his own language, and there weren't any words in ancient Egyptian for security device, camera, or electrified fence.

 

\---

 

Jonouchi lost track of the time he'd been there, half curled up on the bed with his arms around Kaiba, just watching him sleep. He had mixed feelings about the serene look on Kaiba's face. It brought out the fine, male beauty that was usually frozen out by the coldness in those ice-blue eyes, and that made it even easier for Jonouchi to admit to himself how he felt, because who could resist a face like that?

 

However, it also made him remember some of the thoughts he'd started having when he was with Seth, and all of his curiosity about what Kaiba really looked like and felt like. Whatever he’d done with Seth seemed like another one of his weird dreams now, though, compared to the absolute reality of that one little kiss from Kaiba. He wasn’t even sure what had happened back in that room.

 

When Kaiba shifted a little, weak but restless in the bed, Jonouchi's body started to tingle with reawakened curiosity. He had to pull back a before things began to get awkward.

 

He sat back on the very edge of the bed, but when he tried to draw his arms from around Kaiba's shoulders, a clammy hand grabbed at his with what strength it had in sleep. Jonouchi held Seto's hand in his lap and looked down at it. How often those hands had caught his eye, usually in the motion of drawing a deadly card or making some other forceful gesture. Beautiful, expressive hands, he thought. But now Kaiba's hand was just lying there in his, with barely enough strength to curl his fingers around Jonouchi's.

 

It wasn't right. Jonouchi knew from experience that Kaiba had a grip like a vice. As attractive as his face looked in peaceful sleep, that wasn't right either. Those blue eyes should be open and flashing, and those dark lashes shouldn't look so stark against such pale cheeks.

 

"So, what are we supposed to do to make things right again?" Jonouchi asked himself impatiently. If there was one thing he hated, it was feeling helpless like this, sitting there and doing nothing while someone he cared about was in trouble. "We came here to figure out some way to help, so start using those brains Kaiba thinks you don't have, Katsuya, and figure something out!"

 

Holding Kaiba's hand in both of his, he sat back and dragged his gaze away from the sleeping face. He tried to clear his mind of the effect Kaiba was having on him so he could sort through all that had happened, from the moment the two ancient duelists appeared until now.

 

"So," he said to himself, "a couple of guys from 3000 years ago show up here out of nowhere, and they're trying to kill each other, or it looks like it anyway, because of this other guy who died back in the past under mysterious circumstances, who happens to look like me, of all people. And then the two people who look like them in the present started getting sick right after they showed up. And somehow, all three of us can speak their language, but they can't speak ours, and no one else around us has gotten instant Egyptian language lessons, either.

 

"What else? Bakura has the Ring which he got from the dead guy, but he didn't use it when they were dueling and he doesn't seem all that happy to have it, unlike our own Bakura. And Seth has the Rod 'cause he's some kind of high priest of the Pharaoh. And there's someone who looks like Yugi in the past they came from, but it's not the same guy as the Other Yugi so he's not the Pharaoh there, but the Pharoah that is there has the Millennium Eye instead, and there's other Millennium Items but no Puzzle where they come from. And maybe Bakura didn't kill Jumoke like Seth or that other Pharaoh guy with the Eye thinks he did, but somebody must have done it! And maybe Bakura didn't really plan to kill Seth when they were dueling, but he sure looked like he was ready to sic that great big overgrown snake...."

 

He broke off abruptly as he remembered the sight, sound and smell of the great serpent-like beast Bakura had controlled during the duel.

 

"Wait a second. Those were real monsters, not holograms, and they must have come from the past with Seth and Bakura, so where'd they go? And how'd they get here in the first place?"

 

There was something else about the monsters that seemed to be tugging at his mind, like the answer to a math problem that stayed just out of reach of his brain when the teacher called on him in school. Something he should remember about Ancient Egypt or Duel Monsters, or was it something somebody said?

 

"Maybe I should get another look at that fancy golden duel disc of Seth's, come to think of it," he mused out loud. "Man, I bet Kaiba would love to get his hands on one of those and find out what makes it work!"

 

Thinking of Kaiba derailed his thoughts again for a few seconds, as he stared at the sleeping face, at the slightly parted lips that had just touched his. Wincing, he dragged his gaze away and tried to think, and to remember whatever it was that was escaping him. Millennium Items, Duel Monsters, and...?

 

A soft knock at the door shattered his thoughts and almost made him fall off the edge of the bed - almost, but not quite, because he was still sitting there holding Kaiba's hand in his lap like a lovesick schoolgirl when Yugi and Mokuba stuck their heads in the room a second later.

 

"Jonouchi? Is everything okay?" Yugi asked, his brows knotted with concern. "You've been in here for a long time!"

 

"Uh, yeah, everything's fine!" he said. "Well, I mean, you know - not any worse, anyway."

 

Mokuba's eyes darted from his brother's face to the machines in alarm. Jonouchi realized he was far more worried about Kaiba's closed eyes and limp hands than about the fact that Jonouchi was holding onto him.

 

"He's just asleep again," Jonouchi said quickly, standing up. "I didn't want to leave in case he wakes up and needs something, you know?"

 

He tried to give Kaiba his hands back, but limp fingers hooked around his and wouldn't let go. He laughed nervously; his face was so hot he knew he must be red as a beet, but Mokuba didn't seem concerned. He walked over to stand next to Jonouchi and stare down at his brother. Yugi followed him in, looking from Kaiba to Jonouchi with a questioning expression.

 

"Did you get to talk to him, at least?" Yugi asked.

 

"Well, yeah, we talked a little, before he fell asleep. Nothing important, much, just, you know, how's it going, stuff like that!" Jonouchi was still trying to discreetly pull his hand away, without success.

 

Mokuba sighed. His shoulders drooped, and he turned to Jonouchi with a smile of relief.

"Seto's really sleeping this time," he said. "Not like the other times when he seemed like he was trying to fight his way out of it, or like he was having bad dreams. Thanks, Jonouchi! I knew you could help him."

 

"Uh," Jonouchi said. "Yeah?"

 

Mokuba nodded. "He didn't want to admit it when he was awake, but he's been wanting to see you for days. He's so stubborn!"

 

"They both are," Yugi said quietly, catching Mokuba's eye as he joined them at the bedside. It was Dark Yugi's voice and cryptic smile, Jonouchi realized.

 

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, but he and Mokuba only smiled and didn't answer.

 

Flustered, Jonouchi finally managed to put Kaiba's hand down to rest at his side on the bed. He stepped back quickly, rubbing the back of his neck and sweating puddles. Problem was, he didn't want to let go either. Kaiba shifted and sighed in his sleep - and smiled. Jonouchi's breath caught in his throat. What he really wanted to do was climb back onto the bed and put his arms around Kaiba again, but not with Kaiba's little brother and Dark Yugi standing there!

 

But curling up next to Kaiba in bed wouldn't help anything anyway, Jonouchi reminded himself firmly. He was supposed to be figuring out what to do to help, not standing here drooling over the guy. Maybe Yugi could help him figure out what he'd been puzzling over a moment ago - if he could just remember what it was.

 

Before he could gather his thoughts again, something bleeped loudly. They all jumped and stared at the medical equipment, but nothing had changed on the screens. Suddenly Mokuba swore and whipped a cellphone out of his pocket.

 

"What is it?" he snapped in a loud whisper. "It better be important!"

 

"Yes, sir," the authoritative female voice in the phone said, just loud enough for Jonouchi to hear. "I'm sorry to bother you, but security has a problem I thought you'd want to know about. Two men nearly succeeded in breaking in at the front gate just now. Normally we'd turn them over to the local authorities, but since you said you don't want any publicity of any kind while Mr. Kaiba is ill..."

 

Mokuba cut her off. "Reporters?" he growled.

 

"We don't think so, sir," she said quickly. "They're just a couple of teenagers. One of them can hardly stand up on his own, and the other, the one who almost made it over the gate, he just keeps talking some sort of gibberish no one can understand."

 

Out of the corner of his eye, Jonouchi saw Yugi listening on intently. Glancing up at him over Mokuba's head, Yugi grinned, and suddenly Jonouchi knew what he was thinking.

 

"No way!" Jonouchi said softly. "Not _them_!"

 

With a grim smile, Yugi nodded. "I'd bet on it," he said.

 

 

\---

 

 

Since the Spirit of the Ring had entered his life, Ryou had almost gotten used to coming to in unexpected places, and usually didn't even want to know how he'd gotten there. This time, he thought, he really wished he knew what was going on.

 

One minute he'd been frantically but lightheadedly trying to talk Bakura down from his climb up the wall - and the next, he was sitting on the ground, looking up at the thief's gorgeous, leather-clad backside a few feet in front of his face. That would have been fine, but unfortunately they weren't alone.

 

He peered around Bakura's legs at the dozen or so of Kaiba's guards that were now between them and the gate. At least, he could only assume that they were Kaiba's guards from the "KC" logo on their uniforms. Bakura stood between him and them with his arms flung wide, and with a snarl that could be understood clearly in any language to mean "one step closer and you're dead!"

 

"Oh dear, what did I miss this time?" Ryou wondered aloud.

 

At least Bakura hadn't gotten himself electrified or shot yet, he thought gratefully. Maybe he'd fainted at the right time after all, if that's what got Bakura to stop climbing the wall before he got zapped, or maybe it was the arrival of the guards that had stopped him. The ancient Egyptian didn't know what electrified fences were, but he obviously recognized deadly weapons when he saw a dozen of them aimed in his direction. On the other hand, Ryou worried, they didn't know that he wasn't armed - or was he?

 

"If I had my _diadiankh_ on my arm right now, I'd summon a creature that could devour the lot of you all at once!" he snapped at the guards.

 

Fortunately, Bakura had enough sense not to reach into his bag for the ancient duel disc, although his fingers twitched as he looked down at it. The guards seemed to recognize the threat in his unintelligible Egyptian words; a couple of them took a nervous step backward. The one right in front of Bakura narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip on his weapon.

 

"Stop!" a female voice said. A woman in the same KC uniform, but with a bigger, shinier KC logo on her chest, stepped out between the men who drew back at her command. Instead of holding a gun, she spoke quickly into some kind of device in her hand, while keeping a sharp eye on Bakura.

 

Hoping she was talking to someone inside who would let them in, Ryou started to push himself up to his feet. Bakura turned smoothly and pulled him up, and then drew him close in the circle of one strong arm. The thief tensed as the woman took a step toward them, holding the device in her hand out in front of her.

 

"Wait!" Ryou said urgently, fearing Bakura would lunge for her. Unless Kaiba had been inventing new kinds of weaponry, Ryou was pretty sure that the camera-phone in her hand wasn't deadly.

 

"Oh!" he said suddenly, as that sunk in. "Are we on camera? Maybe Kaiba can see us right now!"

 

"What are you talking about?" Bakura wondered, as he and the woman eyed each other warily.

 

Ryou's reaction to being on camera was automatic: he smiled and waved. And then he fainted again.

 

\---

 

"There's one other thing, sir," Jonouchi heard the security woman say over the phone. "I was on duty during the Battle City tournament. I recognize these guys - or, one of them, anyway," she added uncertainly, "- from the closed-circuit feed we got from the finals before the system went down. If you'll just take a look, sir..."

 

With a scowl, Mokuba glanced at the camera-phone in his hand. He did a double-take and his jaw dropped. By that time, Jonouchi and Yugi were looking over his shoulder.

 

The image was small but sharp enough to see plainly. Jonouchi already knew who they were going to see, but what he didn't expect was to see tomb robber Bakura looking like a sexy fashion model in a long, black leather coat, with his arms around Ryou protectively.

 

Jonouchi studied Ryou's face in the tiny picture. His cheeks were nearly as white as his hair, his eyes were half closed. While they watched, he smiled and waved in his ridiculously friendly way - and then drooped like a rag doll. From what Jonouchi could tell, it was only the thief's arms around him that kept him from crumbling to the ground.

 

"That's Bakura!" Mokuba gasped. "Then is this the other guy who came here with Seth?"

 

"It is," Dark Yugi said. "You'd better have your guards bring them in here to us."

 

Mokuba nodded slowly and spoke into the phone.

 

"They're okay, Rika. Bring them up here," he said. With a glance at Kaiba, he sighed wearily. "And it looks like we better have another hospital bed set up in here, too."

 

\---

 

Ryou blinked in surprise; apparently smiling at the camera had been the right thing to do, he thought fuzzily, because instead of shooting at them, the guards were now escorting them through the gates and into Kaiba's mansion. That was a good thing, he told himself - but he hadn't really planned to be carried across the threshold in Bakura's arms like this! It was embarrassing, to say the least. Pleasant, but embarrassing.

 

He vaguely remembered hearing the woman give orders - which came from Master Mokuba, he thought she'd said - to bring them in. She'd also told the men to help the weak one along, but Bakura had countermanded that order with another one of his threatening growls, and then just scooped him up in his arms. Ryou had been too weak to protest at the moment, but when they stopped in the foyer, with Bakura and the guards eyeing each other uneasily, he started to tell Bakura that he could walk on his own now, please.

 

Bakura didn't seem to hear him. Ignoring the guards, the thief stared past Ryou with narrowed eyes and a grim smile. Ryou twisted around in Bakura's arms and followed his gaze up the stairs at the far end of the foyer.

 

It took him a couple of heartbeats to realize that it wasn't Seto Kaiba up there waiting to greet them. From the top of the stairs, Seth stared down at them with cold fire in his eyes.

 

 

\---

 

(to be continued!)

 


End file.
